The Runaway Adventures
by AllegroGiocoso
Summary: The idyllic family life that the parents strived to create is threatened when feelings of betrayal, neglect, and harsh parenting reach some of the puppies. These runaway puppies soon meet up and have to face old foes while their parents head off on a journey to rescue them. Can the parents and their puppies reconcile to rebuild their broken family before it is too late?
1. The Show Biz

DISCLAIMER: Lady and the Tramp, 101 Dalmatians, and their worlds belong to Disney.

Chapter One—The Show Biz

In an old New England town with fences around every tree, there was a quiet contented feel of small town life. Children were frolicking with hoops and running outside, couples were embracing each other while rocking on their porch swings, and the weather was just right for a nice stroll outside. With an end-of-summer breeze in the air everybody could feel that autumn was coming over the town. For many, this meant picking apples and raking leaves and enjoying life. But for the Brown family, which was famous for owning seven dogs at once, life was a completely different story.

The Brown family consisted of Jim Dear and Darling, their son Junior, and their seven dogs. The household was in a frenetic atmosphere because Jim Dear and Darling were planning on participating in a dog show that was open to all dogs. They decided to put their three young triplet dogs, Annette, Danielle, and Colette, into the show to compete. The three girls were all young cocker spaniels, but each had a slightly different appearance. Annette had short ears and a blue collar, Colette had long ears and a red collar, and Danielle had ears that had relatively unkempt fur and a white collar. The girls, who always loved attention and being fussed over, loved the prospect of competing in a dog show. They were regularly talking in the kitchen, usually with great excitement in their voices.

Every day, Annette, Danielle, and Colette practiced for the show. The sisters practiced dazzling poses designed to impress the judges and they also played with makeup and tried out bows and hats. Few dogs ever did these things, but the sisters had a strong fashion sense and loved dressing up. All the time, they posed for Jim Dear and Darling's camera, hoping that their friends would see their unbelievably adorable photos. As everyone in the house knew, the dog show would be starting the very next day. Not surprisingly, Annette, Danielle, and Colette were the first ones to wake up; as they have been for every day in the past week, since they were so happy with all the attention and time preparing for the show.

"Oh, excellent!" Annette giggled loudly as she saw that Jim Dear and Darling crossed another date off on the calendar. "I can't wait for the show! All that glory and glamour will be ours!"

"Me too!" Danielle loudly laughed. "We're gonna have so much fun!"

"Oh, why, this is going to be wonderful when we wear those adorable ribbons!" Colette squealed.

The sisters spent a few hours giggling happily, anticipating the show, and eating the food that Jim Dear and Darling left out for them. But then they stopped and turned abruptly as the kitchen door creaked open and Lady, their mother, stepped onto the kitchen floor. She looked like her daughters, and had feathery, tan fur that was very beautiful. She also had silky long brown ears and deep dark brown eyes, and was known as the prettiest dog in town.

"Girls, it's your bath time," she told them gently, yet at the same time, she could not disguise a note of exhaustion in her voice. Her daughters cheered exuberantly and rushed into the bathroom where Jim Dear was setting up a warm tub of water, filled with bubbles brimming to the top. As the girls giggled with joy, Lady yawned and felt her eyes droop. While she felt happy to be a mother and loved her children, the responsibility of taking care of her boisterous puppies made her exhausted.

Deciding that she needed a rest and that her daughters wouldn't be needing her at the moment, Lady, still yawning, sauntered into the living room, and placed her head on one of the pillows and closed her eyes.

"How are ya doing, Pidge?" came a voice next to her. Lady opened her eyes a little bit and saw her husband, Tramp, sleeping lazily on a couple of pillows. Tramp was a grey, scruffy dog, and he was once the top street dog around town. She was not too surprised that she could detect a hint of boredom in his voice and pose. He still wasn't entirely used to being a housedog.

"I'm sleepy," Lady answered back, smiling affectionately at him and feeling her body relax.

"Yeah," Tramp told Lady. "It's been kinda dull around here. How 'bout we go and have some fun while the girls are at their show? I can show you some of the finest restaurants in town and we can explore beyond those far off hills! How about it Pidge?"

Lady smiled gently, for she knew that lazing around in the house and preparing for dog shows were not activities that were Tramp's cup of tea. But then she thought about how Annette, Danielle, and Colette would feel if she and Tramp didn't show up for the show, and how Jim Dear and Darling would feel if they ran away. She shook her head, and sighed, "But who will watch our daughters at the dog show?"

"You win Pidge," Tramp told Lady, yawning again in resignation.

A few minutes later, Lady heard some scrapping noises nearby, and tearing down the stairs came their only son, Scamp. He was rushing into the living room with Jim Dear's pillow in his mouth. Scamp looked like his father in miniature, and as Lady saw him with that pillow, she thought about how he acted like him too. His girlfriend, Angel, who also lived in the house, followed Scamp down the stairs. She was a blonde puppy with bright blue eyes, a puffy tail, and a large tuft of fur on her head. Lady smiled, she knew that like Tramp, neither of them were at all interested in being fancied up for the show. Instead, Scamp and Angel spent their time playing games like chase, tag, ball playing, and their favorite, pillow fighting. The two puppies were fighting over a pillow with intensity, which Tramp watched amusedly.

"Watch this," Scamp told Angel, growling ferociously and biting at the pillow.

"Oh, that was so smooth," Angel replied sarcastically, biting at the pillow, tugging it away from Scamp, which resulted in him falling to the ground. Angel teasingly laughed, "You're weird, tenderfoot."

"Oh yeah?" Scamp asked daringly.

Lady watched the situation tiredly, but then she rushed over as Scamp caused the pillow to begin loosing feathers. She was worried that Jim Dear might not like his favorite pillow being torn apart. "Oh Scamp," she told him, rather concernedly. "Don't damage that one… that pillow was in our family for ages. It has been Jim Dear's favorite pillow for as long as I can remember…" She indicated a living room pillow that was already half torn up. "Why not try that one?"

"Come on, Mom!" Scamp told her unconcernedly. "It's just a pillow."

"Besides, it's fun!" Angel added, before she resumed playing with a play-growl, saying, "That's mine, tenderfoot!"

Tramp stretched, stood up, and walked over to Lady. "Pidge, give them a break. They're bored in here, they already ripped up that other pillow, and they're not interested in dog shows. See Pidge, you'd never understand, you've never been a street dog. You'd have no idea what it's like. You'd be happy to be part of a family, but at the same time you'd lose all those chances for fun and adventure, and you'd always be feeling cooped up. "

"I suppose you're right," Lady told Tramp, and the two of them returned to their pillows. "But it is kind of sad, I was a good girl during my puppy days and I always did what Jim Dear and Darling would want. And… I'm worried for them, Tramp."

"Relax, all our kids have a tramp in them," Tramp added, and the two of them laughed and Lady smiled in relief, appreciating his comfort.  
But at the next moment, Jim Dear walked into the living room. He didn't look very pleased at Scamp and Angel, who were still fighting over his pillow.

"Oh no, not my pillow!" Jim Dear declared. "I knew that seven dogs would be too many," he added, glowering at Scamp and Angel. Angel hung her head, while Scamp smiled guiltily. "Outside, you two."

Jim Dear picked them up and took them outside as Scamp and Angel squirmed. He put them out on the front porch. As Jim Dear shut the front door and left to the kitchen to resume giving the sisters their baths, Lady stuck her head out the front door's dog flap, watching Scamp and Angel, who both looked very upset.

"We shouldn't have done that," Angel sighed. "It was stupid of us, really."

"But we don't deserve this!" Scamp shouted. "We just wanted to have fun! I told you that families are horrible sometimes! Look where going home got me! In trouble again! Sometimes families are just rules, rules, rules," Scamp spat angrily. "Maybe we should just leave."

"Oh, tenderfoot, it's still better in here than to live in the street," Angel told him firmly. "You don't know what it's like to have no family… and be an orphan."

Scamp stopped as Angel sighed, looking up at the skies. "It's been rough for me. My daddy died before I was born. And my mama has been locked up in the pound; and from what I've heard, she's no longer here with us. So ever since I lost Mama I haven't really had a family...and your parents searched for you when you ran away and took me in. I'm sure they care about us, don't you think? Now that I no longer have Mama, they're the best I can do for parents. So I don't know about you, but I'm not leaving."

"What about the humans?" Scamp asked. "They set up all these rules. They can't care about us!"

"Well, at least they feed us and give us a warm home… that's more than Buster ever did." Scamp resigned, and realized that Angel was never going to run away from his family.

Back inside, Jim Dear and Darling were talking impatiently. "Those two ripped up another one of our old pillows," Jim Dear told Darling annoyed. "This is the… fourth? I believe?"

"Yes, Jim Dear," Darling told him serenely, but with a tone of impatience in her voice.

"And that was my favorite pillow," Jim Dear complained, holding up the torn pillow. "Now I'll never get any more sleep."

A few hours passed, and it was getting to be mid-afternoon. Angel and Scamp were still fuming about being locked out, and Lady came out to join them. She smiled at Scamp and Angel, and brought out their food dishes. "Scamp, Angel, here are your food dishes," Lady told them, placing them gently in front of them.

Angel replied, "Thanks," and she and Scamp voraciously began to eat.

"How could you stand being locked out all the time?" Angel asked Scamp, with food on her face as her fur stood up irritably. Lady gasped in horror. Apparently, the lengthy punishment's frustrations were even getting to her.

"I couldn't," Scamp answered angrily. "Angel, don't you understand now? That's why I ran away."

Angel nodded slowly, pondering what he was saying. Lady could tell that Scamp's words were impacting Angel, so she hurriedly told them, "You two, Jim Dear and Darling don't feel that good. Your sisters are heading to a grand dog show, so Jim Dear and Darling are nervous and overworked with all of the preparations. We've had so many good times together, and it will get better once the show is over, I promise."

Lady softly nuzzled Scamp, and then she went back into the house.

Angel and Scamp were silent for a bit, before Scamp said, They never change from this."

"Yeah," Angel sighed. On a slightly brighter note, she added. "Well, at least we can talk about our old adventures. They're always something to cheer up about."

"Hey… why don't we just have some new adventures ourselves!" Scamp cried, standing up and wagging his tail. "We can just sneak out and have fun!"

"But Jim Dear and Darling will catch us! We'll be in real trouble!" Angel cried. "Then we'll lose our home, we'll be thrown back out on the streets and no one will take us in!"

"Not quite," came a soft, slow drawl. "Someone will always take you in, Angel…"

Scamp and Angel instantly turned, and then, a small, scruffy blonde dog with a large, puffy tail and bright blue eyes came out of the bushes and walked up to the steps in front of the house, smiling. Scamp didn't recognize her. But Angel froze, stared at her for a moment with surprise, with her eyes widening, before gasping, "Mama!"


	2. Tramp's Truth Revealed

DISCLAIMER: The Lady and the Tramp and 101 Dalmatians universes belong to Disney, as do any characters, places, etc. that you recognize outside of this fanfic.

Chapter 2—Tramp's Truth Revealed

"Hey, what…" Scamp gasped in shock. But Angel didn't reply. A grin slowly flickered onto her face as she rushed over to her mother, rubbing against her enthusiastically.

"Mama! You're alive!" Angel exclaimed again.

Scamp jumped up in surprise. "Angel, you mean… she's your mother?"

Angel nodded delightedly. "Yes! She's my mother, Peg."

"It's great to see ya again," Peg told Angel affectionately.

"Where were you all this time?" Angel asked, amazed.

"Locked in the pound, sent to a British pet shop, sent to New York, ran back home, locked back in the pound, and gettin' out," Peg told Angel. "Been really busy, sorry I didn't see you for a while, sweetie. It ain't easy bein' a street dog, you must've learned that by now," Peg told her affectionately.

"Oh Mama, that's all right," Angel smiled. "I guess we street dogs all have had a hard life. I joined a gang of junkyard dogs during my street days, I had no choice."

Scamp squirmed guiltily behind them, for he joined the same group of junkyard dogs himself, though by choice.

"Glad to see ya rid of 'em," Peg smiled. Then she looked at Scamp, who smiled at her. "And I see you found yourself a home and a boyfriend," Peg told Angel, with a caressing tone in her voice, but almost with a faint tinge of jealousy. "He looks like a nice one, sweetie."

Scamp wagged his tail happily, as Angel nodded. Both were still a bit embarrassed about being called boyfriend and girlfriend. "His name's Scamp," Angel told Peg. I've been living with his parents," Angel explained.

"Your home looks nice, but…" Peg looked at Angel and asked, "How could your human keep ya locked out like that?" Peg asked.

"Oh, don't worry," Angel told Peg. "It's not that much of a problem. At least I have a home where I'm loved."

"I still don't like ya locked out," Peg told Angel. Then Peg turned to Scamp. "I've got to have a talk with your parents. What're their names?"

"Lady and Tramp," Scamp spat bitterly.

Just then, a flicker shot across Peg's face. An odd sort of grin settled there, and Scamp and Angel didn't understand what Peg was smiling about. Then, Peg looked at Scamp and noticed just how similar he was to his father.

"I know your father," Peg told Scamp. "We can sort things out together, no problem." she told Scamp affectionately. "Now go in and get Tramp and we'll sort everything out."

"Do you mean that?" Scamp asked excitedly.

"Of course she does!" Angel answered cheerily. "Thanks Mama!"

"Should I get Mom out?" Scamp asked.

"No need," Peg answered. "She's prob'ly tougher on the rules."

Scamp answered, "Yeah, you're right." Then he jumped through the dog door and rushed into the house. He noticed Lady was busy helping take care of Annette, Colette, and Danielle in their bath. It made it all the easier to find Tramp and bring him out without Lady noticing.

"What is it, son?" Tramp asked as he noticed Scamp run toward him.

"Dad, you have a visitor," Scamp declared, breathlessly.

"What's this?" Tramp asked excitedly.

Tramp followed Scamp out of the house, and jumped through the dog door. Tramp's eyes widened in shock and gasped when he saw just who his visitor was. Angel and Peg were cuddling on the porch floor. "Things will turn all right, sweetie," Peg told Angel.

"I love you mama," Angel told Peg, licking her on the face. Tramp was speechless. A feeling of stupidity crept over him. How could he have not realized they were related? He'd been with Peg as a girlfriend before, after all. And he knew Angel for a month now! How could he not recognize how similar they were?

Then Peg looked up, and saw Tramp. "Hiya handsome," Peg greeted Tramp, with a smooth drawl and small smile. "It's been quite a long time, hasn't it?"

Tramp nodded uncomfortably, saying, "Oh, yeah, yeah," almost too hurriedly. He wanted to groan with agony. The last thing he wanted was a chat with one of his ex-girlfriends. "Uh…listen," Tramp told Peg. "You shouldn't be here. If my wife sees you, she'll call Jim Dear and Darling and you'll go back to the pound."

"We can take a walk down the road, that way your wife won't see us. Handsome, I've got a bone to pick with ya about the way ya raise my daughter," Peg told Tramp. "And I wanna tell ya not to lock her out like this."

"Peg, there was nothing I could've done, honest! It was Jim Dear and Darling who chose to lock them out," Tramp told Peg as Scamp and Angel smiled. "I'm sick of being stuck in here too with all these rules, trust me! But we're forced to put up with rules as housedogs. Otherwise, we'd be thrown out! To tell you the truth, I'm fed up with them too."

Peg smirked. "Yes, there must be lot of rules as a housedog," Peg sighed. "Life mustn't be the same for ya anymore. Life's never been the same for me either, without ya freein' me from the pound," Peg told Tramp admiringly. She paced around him, batting her hair in front of Tramp and batting her eyelashes.

"Now I need to break out m'self, handsome," Peg continued somewhat sadly. "I can't have ya doing the work for me."

Evidently, Tramp seemed to be thinking along the same lines. It has been ages since he had fun as a street dog, living his old life and breaking his friends free from the pound. Sadly, he replied, "Yeah, I sure do miss living that kind of life… I might just do that some time."

Just then, Danielle was bounding down the hallway, heading to the mirror by the front door. Lady was just fixing Collette's bow when Danielle gasped with the sight out the window.

"What's wrong Danielle?" Lady asked.

"Mom," Danielle gasped. "You'll never guess what!"

"Well, what?" Lady asked, rushing over.

"This other dog is snuggling with Dad!" Danielle announced excitedly.

Lady gasped. This couldn't be true! "Stay here," she told Danielle. "Please don't say a word to your sisters. I'll take care of this."

And Lady, far from being tired, rushed toward the front window, just in time to see her visitor. Lady gasped as she saw her former pound inmate encircling Tramp, brushing her tail against him. Nervously, Lady pressed her ear to the dog door just enough so that she could hear outside. She heard Peg say, "Incidentally, I wouldn't mind a little walk with ya… ya know, just down the road…we could go out and…ya know, think about old times…" Then she rubbed against Tramp a few times and looked longingly into his eyes.

Lady had enough. She knew that Peg was quite interested in Tramp at the pound, and that she had a crush on him then too, but Lady couldn't let Peg have his heart. Frantically, she jumped through the door and bounded up right in front of Tramp.

"Hi Pidge," Tramp told Lady nervously.

"Oh, hello dearie," Peg told Lady calmly, acting as though nothing had happened.

"Hello Tramp, Peg," Lady told them, trying to suppress the fury in her voice. She turned to Peg and told her as politely as she could, "Nice to see you again, Peg."

"Same with you, dearie," Peg told Lady, smirking. "I was gonna tell ya Tramp and I are just goin' off on a little stroll," Peg explained.

"I don't know if he should," Lady told Peg, still trying to conceal her anger and worry. "Tramp's a housedog now, Peg," Lady declared as Tramp scratched himself, conflicted. "He's my husband. He can't just go out with a stroll with you without Jim Dear and Darling knowing, otherwise, he could get in trouble. You wouldn't want that, would you?"

"Come on Pidge," Tramp replied. "Just let me break the rules this once…Peg and I need to sort some things out." Evidently, Tramp's patience with the shows and the house dog life was running low too.

"No," Lady told Tramp flatly. "Peg, thanks for comforting me at the dog pound and it's nice to see you again, but just go, please."

"What if I don't want to leave?" Peg asked coolly, sneering.

Lady, irritated, was about to reply, but Scamp interrupted, "Mom, wait a second! She's only out on a stroll to talk about how to help raise..."

Lady furiously glared at Peg. This effort to trick her son was too much for her to take. "Why, you… you're trying to trick my children into believing that you're here for them when all you care about is stealing Tramp's heart! And why would you know anything about parenting at all, you deceitful…"

But then, Angel rushed toward Lady, cornered her and began growling.

"How could you talk to Mama like that!" Angel shouted at Lady. "I thought you were my adopted mother, but so much for that!"

Lady's eyes widened in horror when she realized what Angel was talking about. She couldn't believe it! How could she not have noticed the puffy tail, bright blue eyes, and long blonde coat? She asked, alarmed, "Angel… you mean she's your mother?"

"Yeah, she sure is," Angel growled proudly. "She's my real mother."

Lady gasped in shock. Peg, meanwhile, began advancing toward Tramp again, batting her eyelashes and smiling flirtatiously. Desperately, Lady told Peg, "Peg, please go! Or I will have to let Jim Dear and Darling know about this."

Peg's slight, flirty smile vanished into a frustrated leer. "So, that's that, is it dearie?" she told Lady bitterly. "Ya won't let him even on a little stroll with me?"

Tramp tried to ignore Peg, he was still very uncomfortable due to his own past. Peg realized that Tramp, not having agreed to walk yet, wouldn't go with her, and she growled, "Ya know handsome, ya didn't use to ignore me like that, ya ain't the same anymore," Peg scowled at Tramp. "Ya didn't use' to mind… ya didn't use' to care about how others thought of ya… datin' many dames and playin' with their hearts."

"What?" Angel asked.

Peg looked at her. "He didn't even tell ya?" she asked.

Angel shook her head. Peg told Angel, "Well as your mama, I better tell ya. That Tramp flirted with girls, for the pleasure of it. Ya know, only for his personal pleasure. He wasn't really ever serious in love, he ditched 'em whenever he felt like it. I know from personal experience, he ditched me like that! But now with dearie coopin' him up," Peg scowled at Lady. "He can't be the same, that's all."

Peg hurried off, looking very bitter. Angel just stood there, looking at the floorboards and sniffling slightly as the occasional tear dripped down her cheek. After a little while, Lady told Angel, "I'm sorry I called your mother…"

"Yeah right!" Angel shouted at Lady furiously, who recoiled in shock.

Angel then rounded on Tramp, glaring at him. "And you're worse! How could you do that?" she asked, fuming.

Tramp laughed for a bit, "Ha, ha... Well, Angel, don't you see, don't you…"

Lady watched Tramp intently as Angel rounded on him. "You're not my family," she tearily yelled. "You manipulated my mama's dreams and played with her heart! I'm going off to be with my real mama! Good bye!"

And at once, Angel furiously tore off down the street.

Lady sighed. She knew that Scamp would be a lot less happy without Angel, but as Angel chose her mother, there was nothing she could do about it. Scamp looked confused, and Lady told him firmly, "Scamp, please get into the house."

"Dad, what's going on?" Scamp asked Tramp.

Tramp still was very uncomfortable. "Well, don't you see, uh… well, I just, uh, saved her life a couple times, and… oh, it was nothing really," Tramp answered hurriedly in a voice that plainly expressed that someone was touching on a nerve.

"So," Scamp growled, arching with rage. "Not only did you lie to me about your past on living on the street, but you kept your own dating life secret from me too. And worse, you caused Angel to run away! Angel's right, you're not my true family after all either!"

And Scamp charged down the road, yelling, "Angel, I'm coming!"

Lady sighed sadly, and a few tears began to roll down her face. The loss of her kid and daughter in law was just too much for her. But she told Tramp firmly, "We've got to let Jim Dear and Darling know about this."


	3. Hotel Disaster

DISCLAIMER: The Lady and the Tramp and 101 Dalmatians universes belong to Disney.

Chapter 3—Hotel Disaster

Nearby Jim Dear and Darling's little New England town was another family with a lot of dogs that was crossing the ocean on a large ship. They were Roger Radcliff, a famous musician, and Anita Radcliff. The two of them were famous enough due to Roger's music career, but they were also famous for owning a large dalmatian plantation in Britain. Like Jim Dear and Darling, Roger and Anita were also planning on sending some of their many dalmatian puppies to the dog show in New England. Roger and Anita, along with their cook Nanny brought Pongo and Perdita, who were their adult dogs, and five of their puppies aboard the ship for a weeklong trip to the states to participate in the show. When their ship finally stopped at the pier, the puppies cheered as they exited their cabin. The long journey to America was difficult, for it involved a cramped cabin and many days of seasickness, especially for the puppies. Perdita breathed a sigh of relief that the journey was finally over, and Pongo happily smiled at her. They were just as happy as the puppies to end the journey.

"Well, we're here!" Roger told Anita and Nanny. "We just have to walk a few blocks and then we'll settle in to our hotel." Roger told them.

"That's wonderful news, Rodge," Anita told him. Then she breathed in the fresh air and sighed, "My, this is a wonderful place!"

Roger and Anita walked Pongo, Perdita, and the puppies down the streets. From time to time, some dogs smiled at Pongo and Perdita and nodded respectfully, while others barked affectionately at them.

"I guess we're well known everywhere, Perdy," Pongo told Perdita, who nodded. The reason they were so famous among the canine community was that they led a daring rescue to save their puppies. The story of their epic journey crossed the ocean through the Twilight Bark, and their story became legend in a matter of weeks. Still, Pongo and Perdita were surprised on just how many admirers they had. Pongo and Perdita smiled back at their well-wishers, all the while keeping an eye out on their puppies during the walk to the hotel.

When they got to the hotel lobby, Pongo and Perdita decided to lie down on the soft carpet. Both Pongo and Perdita were very worn out from taking care of their puppies on the bumpy boat ride, and Nanny gave them each a piece of ham as Roger and Anita waited in line to check into the hotel room. But their puppies were not tired at all. On the contrary, they were restlessly scampering through the hotel lobby. Nanny had to keep a close eye on them while Roger and Anita were talking to he hotel receptionist.

Once they were done checking in, Roger and Anita walked Pongo, Perdita, and the puppies up to the hotel room and Roger excitedly told Anita, "Well Anita, it's time to see our room!" And he used the key and opened the hotel room's door. Anita gasped in surprise while Roger smiled. The hotel room was brightly lit, with a large window that had beautifully decorated curtains. Two double beds, a piano, and a television also were neatly placed throughout the room. Roger and Anita walked through the room, admiring it, and they unleashed their dogs, allowing them all to settle in. Pongo immediately asked Perdita, "Perdy, are you all right?"

Perdita jumped up on one of the beds, sighing, "Oh of course dear. But Pongo, I'm afraid this was a long journey for our children, I hope they're all right," looking concernedly at them.

"Oh don't worry Perdy, they'll settle in," Pongo told Perdita, following her up onto the bed and licking her face.

Roger and Anita meanwhile, had no such worries. Roger was very happy when he discovered the piano. He smiled broadly at Anita, saying, "Look! They even put a piano in here!"

"They must know you're a famous musician," Anita smiled. "This is like a dream come true, Rodge," Anita told him happily, and Roger twirled her in the air.

Pongo and Perdita smiled at how much Roger and Anita were enjoying the room. But then Pongo looked down at his puppies, and noticed that unfortunately, they were not as happy. Rolly, the chubbiest puppy, was moaning for food, lying down in front of his empty food dish on the floor and looking at it depressively. Cadpig, the smallest puppy, was aimlessly dashing through the room. Lucky, the survivor of the litter, was sitting with a spiritless expression on his face, Patch, a puppy with a black splotch over his eye was lying down, and Penny, a puppy with a few spots, was looking thoroughly fatigued. Once living in a bachelor flat, Pongo knew how they felt to be cramped, bored and dissatisfied. Stretching, he jumped off the bed and turned on the television to try to distract the kids. At once, Thunderbolt the Wonderdog appeared on the TV. The puppies all scampered over to the television and wagged their tails at it, watching their long time hero on television yet again. Pongo smiled with relief, seeing that his puppies were happy, at least for the short term. Then Pongo rejoined Perdita on the bed and together enjoyed themselves by watching their children.

"Go get 'em!" Patch excitedly shouted at the TV, then biting at the carpet. "You can do it Thunder! It's just like in Episode 389! Pongo chuckled to himself, for Patch always tended to be exciteable like this.

But just then, Lucky inched a little bit closer to the TV.

"Lucky! Get down! I'm trying to watch" Patch told him insistently.

Lucky didn't say anything. Instead, he just briefly scowled at Patch from his front seat and continued to watch TV. Pongo groaned and shook his head. He knew that Lucky and Patch had a rivalry for months and unfortunately, it wasn't ending just yet.

"Come now, Lucky, down dear," Perdita told him. Lucky reluctantly backed down and crawled back next to Cadpig.

"Cheer up Lucky, it's still a good view here," Cadpig told Lucky happily.

While the puppies watched television, Roger walked over to the piano. He began to sing and play the piano. Anita walked over to sit on the bed nearby, petting Perdita's head, and laughing whenever Roger began to play "Cruella De Vil".

After half an hour, the credits of Thunderbolt began to roll. With Thunderbolt off the television, Lucky continued to watch TV, but the puppies became restless right away. Rolly told Perdita pleadingly, "I'm hungry!"

Perdita told Rolly, "Now, now, you still have to wait a little bit for your dinner," as Anita petted her head.

Rolly insisted, "But I'm so hungry! I'll eat the rug if you don't feed me soon!"

"Rolly, I'll cheer you up! I can find your real problem and help you find your happy place!" Cadpig shouted in her boisterous, high-pitched way. She then scurried through the room. "It helps my mental condition to scurry and it might help yours too!"

"Thanks," Rolly told Cadpig dourly. "But I'd do better with some food."

Pongo then decided to turn off the TV with Thunderbolt finished because Nanny just placed Lucky up on the table in the corner. "In here, Lucky darling," Nanny told Lucky. "You need a nice comfortable bath." She chuckled gently, petted Lucky on the head, and affectionately told him, "You're such a cute little puppy."

"Why did you turn the TV off?" Lucky asked Pongo. "I want to watch other shows!"

"You need to look your best for the show, Lucky," Pongo told him while Nanny soaped him down.

"Be careful how you walk up to the judges," Perdita told him, jumping off the bed and walking up to the table. "Impress them the best you can. And don't worry if they don't like your showing because we'll always love you."

Meanwhile, Patch, sitting on the bed, scowled at his parents paying attention to Lucky. He always felt that Lucky got the most attention and he couldn't help but feel a bit jealous.

"I want to watch TV, not go to a show," Lucky told Pongo. "And I want some adventure too."

Below the table, Rolly continued to complain about the lack of food and his tummy loudly growled until dinner time. After Nanny fed him twice the portion that the other puppies received, Rolly was satisfied, and he fell asleep next to his food bowl. However, some of the other puppies were still having problems. As Roger played the piano again, singing "Cruella De Vil" merrily while he played, Patch weighed in on Cruella.

"She's such a dirty skunk," Patch declared. "A filthy, rotten…"

Perdita gasped in alarm. "Now Patch, you shouldn't be saying things like that!"

Patch turned to Pongo for support, but he added, "Better do what your mother says."

Patch blurted out, "But she is!"

Penny added, "He's quite right, Mother. You didn't have to deal with that mad old lady."

Perdita knew that Penny wouldn't use those words herself, but that she was sticking up for Patch. The two of them tended to be best friends among the puppies. But Perdita knew that she had to address their rudeness if they were to grow up respectably. She sighed sadly, "I know that she was extremely cruel to you, and believe me, I felt more pain about losing you than you could ever imagine. But you could express your discontent without such talk, I wonder where you've learned all those words," looking at Pongo suspiciously.

Rolly and Cadpig nodded with their mother, but Patch and Lucky didn't look convinced.

"You don't expect us to just treat her politely," Patch growled.

"But there are other ways to express your feelings," Perdita told Patch pointedly, looking at Pongo for support.

In the next quarter hour, Roger continued to play at the piano in a relaxed way with Anita laughing at his side. Pongo and Perdita returned to their bed, however, they were now concerned about how their puppies were doing. They noticed that Patch looked increasingly frustrated at Nanny, who was still bathing Lucky after fifteen minutes. He couldn't help growling, "Little favorite…"

"Oh, stop it! You are violating our family's harmony!" Cadpig told Patch angrily. "Using those words is not conducive to…"

Lucky overheard them too. "Let me bathe, and stop complaining," he told Patch with a tinge of amusement. "You'll have to wait your turn... or are you jealous?"

Then, Patch loudly growled at Lucky. "Just stop it, you spoiled favorite!" And then he jumped up onto the table and loudly growled at Lucky again.

Cadpig squealed. She was afraid Patch was going to attack Lucky. "Oh no! Poor Lucky!" Then Pongo and Perdita gasped. They knew that this could turn into a big argument, so they rushed over to the table.

Pongo looked at Patch, and told him, "Patch, maybe you need to walk away."

"No Dad… it's Lucky and Cadpig's fault! They antagonized Patch!" Penny told Pongo.

"We did not!" Cadpig replied indignantly.

"Either way, we need to break you up," Perdita told them. "In here, Patch."

And Perdita placed Patch in the dark bathroom, where he sighed, staring at the ground floor. She placed Patch in the bathroom because Lucky was still in the middle of his bath and she knew that Lucky, who acted the youngest of her puppies, would probably be scared of the dark if she sent him to the bathroom instead. When Perdita turned back to take care of Lucky and as Cadpig was trying to cheer Lucky up, Penny decided to talk to Patch.

"Patch, want to have a talk?" Penny asked him through a crack in the door.

Patch agreed, and Penny slipped in through the door.

"I always feel like no one cares about me here…like I'm one of a hundred and one!" Patch complained. "And I feel like Lucky's always the favorite. Not only the parents like him best, but Cadpig and Rolly like him better too!"

"I like you better, Patch," Penny told him. "Sometimes I get tired of Lucky and Cadpig, to be honest. You're my very best friend."

Patch smiled. "Thanks…but I need to get out of here."

Penny gasped. "Get out of here? But where would you go, Patch?"

"I want to be my own puppy, but I can't here," Patch told Penny sadly. "Don't you feel like one of a hundred and one?"

"Well, yes, sometimes," Penny told Patch reluctantly.

"I think we should escape from here and live on our own," Patch told Penny.

"Oh, but our parents love us so much!" Penny gasped.

"They don't really," Patch told her. "It's obvious that Lucky's their favorite. Why didn't they just lock Lucky up in here? When it's Lucky and Cadpig against me, I'm always the bad kid. Mom and Dad always favor Lucky over me, and I'm fed up with it! I just have to get out of here and find where I really belong."

It was against Penny's nature to run away, but she cared deeply about Patch, so she considered the possibility. "I don't know, Patch," Penny sighed after a little bit. "You're sure about this?"

"Yeah," Patch told Penny. "But… I don't have anyone without you," Patch told Penny pleadingly.

Nothing but deep affection for Patch could have convinced her to leave, but Penny always cared about Patch more than any other of her brothers and sisters. She gulped, then whispered, "All right…"

Patch smiled at Penny. "Thanks sis," and the two of them snuggled together happily.

After a few minutes, Penny and Patch walked out, Patch looking very cheerful compared to before. Pongo and Perdita thought that everything calmed down, so the puppies began an hour or so of playing. Cadpig continued with her cheerful attitude and started her philosophy barrage, which normally irritated Patch, but he remained calm. This was going to the last time he ever had to deal with Cadpig or any of the others again. Then, as the clock struck three, Roger asked, "Why don't we go on a walk?"

Anita replied, "Okay Rodge," and instantly, they leashed up Pongo and Perdita, then they leashed up the five puppies, who were now finally old enough to go on walks with them.

As they walked out of the hotel, the five puppies were clearly enjoying themselves, finally being able to take a long walk after being cooped up in a hotel room and a ship. Cadpig stared at some butterflies, saying, "Ooh… symbols for world peace!" Rolly found a half-eaten hot dog on the ground and quickly ate it, saying, "Delicious!" and Lucky and Penny were fascinated with observing a hot air balloon. Only Patch seemed somewhat bored with the walk. He complained to Penny, "How come we can't do something like Thunderbolt for a change?"

Penny was silent, for she liked Patch a lot but didn't feel as adventurous as he did. Pongo and Perdita were talking to each other and they didn't seem to hear him, slightly irking Patch. He then whispered to Penny, "So… wanna bite my leash now?"

"Well…. uh….sure Patch," Penny replied with visible hesitation, and they bit each others leashes off.

"Hey!" Lucky whispered. "Let me come too! I want an adventure!"

Patch groaned, but reluctantly, Penny bit Lucky's leash off.

Meanwhile, Pongo and Perdita continued to talk above, oblivious to Patch's grumbling. "Oh Pongo, this must've been about one year now since we met," Perdita reminisced, happily. "Remember that day, Pongo?"

"Of course, Perdy, I tried to get Anita's and your attention," Pongo told Perdita, "I was tired of that bachelor life," and the two of them laughed.

"And look at our children," Perdita told Pongo happily, watching Patch whispering something to Penny. "They're growing up! I'm so glad we saved them!"

Pongo added, "Me too, Perdy. You know, life has just been working out so well since we arrived home."

Perdita nodded, and Pongo continued, "Just look at our children… they all look…hold on…"

Roger stopped walking, and Anita hurriedly asked, "How many dogs did we take along on the walk?"

Roger stood still, thinking. "Well, let's see… we took Pongo and Perdita, and all five of our puppies…"

"Are you sure?" Anita asked.

But then he noticed he had three empty leashes. "Hold on… where are Patch, Penny, and Lucky?"

"I saw Lucky earlier on the walk," Anita commented, and then they both gasped.

Rolly and Cadpig looked at the empty leashes, and looked confused themselves. Then they realized what must have happened. "Oh my gosh… a total catastrophe!" Cadpig squealed, toppling onto the sidewalk.

Pongo and Perdita were both grief stricken. "Oh, Pongo!" Perdita gasped in horror.


	4. She Strikes Again

DISCLAIMER: Lady and the Tramp, 101 Dalmatians, and their universes belong to Disney. Any character, setting, etc. belongs to Disney.

Chapter 4- She Strikes Again

She sat on an old stool in her grimy jail cell, moodily looking out as she stuck her bony face through the iron bars, staring at her other inmates in their cells. The thought of being stuck in jail electrified her with fury, which was the only emotion she was able to feel for months. After all, she was so much more than one of those rotten thugs who lived in the other jail cells, for she was a criminal mastermind who could come up with the most devious of plans.

She growled to herself, "Those cops think they've seen the last of me…"

But while she wished for those words to be true, she was still stuck in prison for eight long months. None of the cops paid any attention to her words, and when they actually acknowledged that they heard her, none of them took her seriously. After all, so many prisoners have threatened revenge, yet most of them wouldn't have dared to carry their threats out.

Every day to stir up her anger and to keep her active mind busy, she read the newspaper. Her favorite section of the newspaper was the crime section. These stories about the local crimes in town entertained her because of how stupid and unambitious these criminals were. They usually were involved in minor charges like shoplifting and vandalism. Even though occasionally there were cases of larger crimes like murder, these criminals, even the murderers, were usually caught in broad daylight and made several blunders in the conduct of their crimes. After she finished reading the newspapers, she crumpled and threw them into the back corner of her cell, which by now had a large pile of accumulated papers. But she kept two newspapers with her at all times, the two newspapers that defined her life and who she was. One paper was the one showcasing the headline of fifteen dalmatian puppies being declared missing, her greatest accomplishment, and the other was the one announcing that after her greatest criminal act of all, she was caught and arrested. One brought feelings of triumph, and the other brought feelings of outrage.

With nothing else to do, she turned once again to reading those newspapers with a feeling of nostalgia and anger in her boiling up with every word. She was so, so close. If her stupid minions actually did their jobs properly and killed those rotten puppies when they were supposed to, she would've wound up with some beautiful fur coats. Not only that, but she would have been able to continue making them, and each new coat would have been lovelier than the last. But this was not to be, due to the work of her stupid minions, she would never be able to get her dream coats, not to mention that her coat that she was wearing on the day of her arrest was taken by the police with a promise that they would raid her closet and remove all of her other fur coats too. And her ninety-nine puppies that she carefully collected, stopping from pet store to pet store to find, patiently and slowly scheming to obtain them all, all that effort, those weeks of preparation, was all lost when those parents of some of those puppies and a mangy tabby cat came in and helped them escape. Her minions, who were supposed to deal with the puppies, couldn't even stop a pair of mangy travel-worn dogs from escaping and leading her ninety-nine puppies away. "You idiots!" she thought, remembering her minions and their stupid, pathetic faces.

The two of them managed to get out of jail on a technicality. In a rare moment of inspiration, they cleverly told the judge that she was making them steal the puppies by threatening them with death. She only wished they were as clever when they were stealing the puppies as they were then when their own necks were on the line. She didn't know if the judges would see through such an obvious lie, but they acted like they didn't. The judge was soft enough to only give them a month's service in jail. But unlike them, she, the mastermind, was stuck in her cell for a lifetime of jail service, where even the other prisoners, recognizing her for being in that stupid song, made fun of her. For all she knew, she would never escape.

She sighed and drew out her long cigarette and smoked in the dingy jail. Nowadays, she smoked more than ever since she had nothing else to do in the cramped, cold, and thoroughly uncomfortable jail. Sitting on her stool, she thought of how much she would love to get back at those rotten puppies, or those policemen. "How much would I give to make another fur coat…and get my revenge once and for all," she thought miserably as she looked down at her measly little jail gown. The thought of revenge was all that empowered her as she hopelessly stared at her miserably bleak surroundings.

And once again, as he did day after day, the supervisor came in to the jail to deliver the food and newspapers to all the inmates. The supervisor soon opened her door for her portion. Stepping on a few papers that she read a few days ago, she collected her rations of moldy bread and rainwater and picked up her newspaper. She quickly ate the measly portions of bread and drank the rainwater. After all, she might as well enjoy the taste while it lasted. Then she looked down at the paper and gasped when she saw the cover page. She knew at once that this paper was not one for her to throw aside after a few minutes like all of its predecessors. Instead, she carefully looked at the front page, her eyes bulging with fury as she took in every word.

Reading in outrage, she noticed the cover read, "Local Dalmatian Plantation Puppies On Show!" She noticed a large picture on the front, where her old school friend Anita happily hugged her dog as his husband hugged his. Roger and Anita were the owners who took all of her puppies away from her! And sure enough, standing in front of them were five young Dalmatians, all playing happily together in front of their parents, and all adorning five familiar red and blue collars.

Her hands shook and she grabbed the paper in outrage and continued to read.

"In London, popular musician Roger Radcliff, composer of the hit song "Cruella de Vil", has decided to embark in another adventure in his distinguished career: this time to compete in a dog show in the United States! The owners of the Dalmatian plantation will be leaving with their famous parent dogs Pongo and Perdita, and of course their dog show contestants, Pongo and Perdita's puppies, Lucky, Penny, Rolly, Cadpig, and Patch to the show. There they will be judged on posture, beauty, and breed standards. The show will take place in a week starting at 8 am in Connecticut, which means the show will be live on television at 1 pm in London."

She reread the paper, taking in the key aspects of the story. She learned that her hated Roger and Anita were going to the United States where they were planning to show their puppies, and found out that the show would only be in a week's time. She paused with the thought. A liberating feeling flowed through her mind. How perfect would it be to start her fur coat collection all over again by stealing the puppies that locked her in jail in the first place!

She sat on her stool and thought for a moment, tapping her cigarette on her chin on how exactly she would set her plan in motion. Smiling wickedly, and plotting hurriedly, she decided. It had to be tonight. The sooner she got started, the better. She knew that not many prisoners break out of jail. But she knew that she, unlike the other thugs in her dingy prison, was clever enough to find a way out of there.

Pausing, she watched the jail supervisor take care of the other inmates, who were reaching for their daily rations of food and newspapers. Then she noticed the pile of crumpled newspapers in her jail cell. And then, she came up with an idea, as she always did. She smiled to herself confidently. Then, she quietly reached out, grabbed a newspaper and lit in on fire with her cigarette lighter.

She cackled quietly to herself, and then hurriedly threw the newspaper onto the pile of papers. At once the papers caught fire, and the fire began to spread quickly through the cell. The smoke was beginning to leave the jail cell, and at last, the police guard noticed it. It was all too easy!

"Fire!" she screamed, pretending to sound anguished and horrified, jumping up and down and rattling the bars in a frenzy. "There's a fire!" she wailed even louder.

The fire continued to grow, and an orange glow soon illuminated the jail from her cell. Hurriedly, the supervisor realized what was happening. He rushed to her jail cell. Then he unlocked her cell, and she was pulled out. She smirked in triumph when she took her first steps out of that jail cell in months! After putting the fire out, the jail cell was blackened and heavily damaged.

"That was a close one, miss," the supervisor sighed. "Now we don't know where to put you…"

But she smiled straight at the jailer. "I don't think you need to put me anywhere."

"What do you mean?" the jailer asked, confused, but by then, it was too late. In a flash, she got out her cigarette lighter, and lit the paper that featured her jailing on fire. She lobbed it hurriedly at the jailer, and he gasped and toppled over. He was knocked out. Then, smirking, she ran out of the jail's still open front door while the other criminals gasped with amazement.

Running at breakneck speed, she grinned to herself with delight as she ran through the streets and the jail cell grew further and further out of sight. Cackling in triumph, a feeling of elation had finally crept over her, which she never felt in her eight months of miserable confinement. At last, she was free, and there was nothing that the police could do about it!


	5. Runaway of the Lovers

DISCLAIMER: Lady and the Tramp, 101 Dalmatians, and their worlds belong to Disney.

Chapter 5- Runaway of the Lovers

Lady was distraught as she sat with Tramp on her front steps, staring sadly out into the lonely street. The loss of her son for a second time hurt her dearly, and so did the loss of his girlfriend. After alerting Jim Dear and Darling hurriedly with barks, their two owners came out, Darling carrying Junior. They were shocked to see the absence of their rebellious puppies.

"Oh, Jim Dear, Scamp and Angel are gone!" Darling gasped sadly.

"Scamp! Angel!" Junior cried on Darling's sleeve.

"I can't believe what's happening to us," Jim Dear told Darling sadly, patting her on the shoulder.

"Nor can I," Lady told Tramp as Jim Dear and Darling went inside. "Why couldn't you have just talked about your past to our children?"

Tramp replied uncomfortably, "Well, uh, you know. The past is past, and it's not our concern anymore!"

Lady looked seriously at Tramp. "If you just told them about your girlfriends…"

"Yeah…but Pidge, I didn't know that Angel was one of Peg's," Tramp told Lady.

"But you should have told her and the rest of our children that your past was, well, not the best," Lady insisted, and in a slightly sad voice, she added, "Sometimes I think you haven't changed."

Tramp replied, "Oh, come on Pidge. They're just kids. They wouldn't understand this stuff yet."

Lady said nothing in reply. There was a short silence before Lady sighed, "I just miss Scamp so much… all I want is for him to be happy here, and he always seems upset. I thought that adopting Angel would make him happy here, I really did," Lady cried. "And I miss her too. She was beginning to feel like a real daughter to me…" Lady choked back a tear before asking, "Why? Why does Angel have to be the daughter of that spiteful pound dog?"

"Oh come on Pidge, Peg's not that bad," Tramp told Lady.

Lady looked suspiciously at Tramp before incredulously saying, "Not that bad? That pound dog came here to try and tear our relationship apart! She's horrible, unless…" Lady sighed, "You want to be with her and not me."

"Of course not!" Tramp told Lady. "You're one of a kind, Pidge. And my days with Peg are over. But… well, I know her, she was my closest girlfriend before I met you. She's nice enough, but you're special, honest!"

Lady eyed Tramp suspiciously but didn't say anything. The two of them sat on the steps sadly. Lady was unsure on what she should do next, other than to wait for Jim Dear and Darling to act, but Tramp had an idea. He stood up and proclaimed, "Pidge, I'm gonna go out and find them."

Lady looked up at Tramp, still concerned, but now with a clear look of suspicion in her face. "You just want to get out," she told him softly. "How do I know that you won't run off too and won't come back? What if you want to find Peg?"

"Well Pidge, you can come along with me if you want," Tramp told Lady. "You can make sure that Peg or any of my other girlfriends don't come to see me, and you can make sure I don't leave, you know, and keep my behavior in check."

"But… Jim Dear and Darling will be concerned," Lady sighed worriedly. "Last time that I left it was different. When I ran away then, Aunt Sarah and her Siamese cats were there. I never have run out on Jim Dear and Darling. And not only them, but our daughters! What would they do without us? They would be so sad that we wouldn't be able to go to the show to see them…"

Tramp told Lady, "Come on Pidge, we've got to save Scamp and Angel! They could get into real trouble, and they could've been sent to the pound already!"

"Well, I suppose they are troublemakers," Lady quietly told Tramp. "And I would hate to see them in the pound."

Suddenly, Lady saw Jock and Trusty, her neighbors and loyal friends, cross the street. Lady got an idea. She rushed over to meet them and asked, "Jock? Trusty? Could you please come over?"

"We'd be glad to, Miss Lady," Trusty answered and Jock nodded.

The two of them came over to the porch at once, looking quite curious but concerned at the same time. "What is it, Lassie?" Jock asked her gently as they arrived at the porch.

"Anything we can do for you, Miss Lady?" Trusty asked.

"Yes," Lady told Jock and Trusty. "Tramp and I are going out."

Jock looked suspiciously at Tramp, and gave him a slight grimace.

"Why?" Trusty asked simply, eyeing Tramp carefully.

"If this is any one of his follies, lassie," Jock growled suspiciously at Tramp.

"Don't worry about that," Lady told Jock gently. "We're not running away to have fun," Lady added fervently, Tramp decided to walk backward a bit. "Two of our puppies ran away and we're leaving to rescue them."

Jock shook his head. "Ah, I always said there was a wee little bit of the father in them," he sighed sadly. Tramp looked almost proud.

"So do you suppose you could check on the rest of our children?" Lady asked. "They'll be going to a dog show tomorrow and I would appreciate it if you two would take care of them in our place."

"As you wish, Miss Lady," Trusty replied. Lady gave him a thankful smile and nod, and then Lady's two reliable friends walked back to their houses.

Tramp looked as though Christmas was about to come early. He asked, "Ready to get going, pidge?"

"In just a moment," Lady responded. "I…I have to go talk to our children about this."

Lady hurried into the house and gently made her way to the kitchen. Her daughters were proudly sitting on the kitchen floor, smelling like they've just taken a bath.

"Mom!" Annette told Lady proudly. "We're looking really good, aren't we?"

"I look better," Collette told Annette. "I'm the prettiest."

"No, that's me!" Annette snapped.

"We all look better than that silly Scamp," Danielle added.

"Girls, please listen to me," Lady told her daughters. Seriously she looked at the ground and sadly told them, "Scamp and Angel ran away."

The sisters giggled with laughs. "Wow! When did they run away!" Danielle hollered curiously.

"A few hours ago," Lady told them sadly.

"What's the bet that they'll meet the dogcatchers again!" Danielle laughed.

Lady knew that her daughters wouldn't really want Scamp and Angel to be in the pound and that it was Danielle's sense of humor to joke like this, but she frowned her disapproval all the same. The girls, however, continued to giggle. "Oh, those two! They're such delinquents!" Annette sniveled impatiently. "We behave soooooo much better than them. Will they ever behave?"

"Don't you think that those two might be playing a prank on you just so you'd miss the show?" Collette sniveled.

"If you saw them, you would know that's not why they ran away. It's for a different reason than you might think," Lady sighed sadly. "It's kind of complicated, but it's about your father's past."

Danielle's eyes widened. "Ooh! Does it have to do with that woman flirting with Dad?" Danielle asked bluntly.

Annette and Collette gasped. "Woman? Flirting with Dad?"

Lady wished that Danielle didn't say anything, but she knew that the secret would not last forever. Getting it over with, she nodded, "Yes… she's Angel's real mother and she spewed a lot of horrible stories about your father. They were traumatized by them so much that they ran away."

"You're so naïve!" Collette laughed impatiently. "You can't really believe that! Those two are just rabid rebels who have always hated you both. All those two selfish spoiled brats care about is trouble."

Lady gasped with these words, and was hurt with them. She hated to think it, but she was worried that Collette could be right about Scamp and Angel. But Lady continued, "Tramp and I are going to find Scamp and Angel and bring them back home, and Jock and Trusty will take care of you while we're gone."

"But aren't you going to take us to the show?" Collette asked in horror.

Lady didn't answer right away. She told her daughters, "We'll be back once we find them," as her daughters looked at her with horror. "We have to find your brother and his girlfriend. And if we don't take you, Jock and Trusty will. Goodbye girls… we'll be together again before long, I promise," Lady sighed.

"Bye Mom," Annette, Collette, and Danielle answered. Then they started to fight among themselves playfully in the kitchen, as Collette once again declared she was the prettiest of the puppies.

With her head held low as she stared at the floor, Lady proceeded out of the kitchen, noticing each individual tile of floor, and through the hallway towards the front doors. She saw Jim Dear and Darling cuddling Junior and couldn't help hear them talking.

"I guess we shouldn't have locked them out like that," Jim Dear told Darling.

"Yes," Darling agreed. "It's a lot emptier of a house without them."

"Scamp…Angel…" Junior cried.

Lady almost cried herself as she heard Junior's voice, and she felt even guiltier about leaving them. Without looking at her owners, she slowly walked out of the house through the dog door and found Tramp waiting for her. "All right, I'll go…but this is for our kids, remember."

"Of course Pidge," Tramp told her. A broad grin crossed Tramp's face, he never had so much excitement since his days as a street dog.

Lady and Tramp began to cross Park Avenue's street, and Lady asked Tramp worriedly, "Are you sure we're doing the right thing?"

Confidently, Tramp nodded, saying, "Oh, of course! Come on, Pidge," Tramp answered energetically. "Let's head into town!"


	6. The Rescue Begins

DISCLAIMER: Lady and the Tramp, 101 Dalmatians, and their worlds belong to Disney.

Chapter 6—The Rescue Begins

Lady and Tramp hurried through the neighborhood streets, and gradually, the soothing, contented atmosphere of Park Avenue vanished. The affluent, neatly kept houses became less and less prim and proper. Lady noticed the streets were becoming rugged and dingy as she followed Tramp towards town, and she was growing increasingly nervous as the comfortable Park Avenue atmosphere that she loved diminished before their eyes. "Tramp, we're not going… well, we're safe from the dogcatcher, aren't we?"

"Oh, of course!" Tramp confidently told Lady, with a lot of energy radiating from his voice. In contrast to Lady, Tramp knew these streets down pat, even though it had been months since he lived there. "We have licenses, remember Pidge?"

Lady nodded, but she told Tramp, "But that didn't matter last time."

"Don't worry Pidge, I'll get you out of trouble," Tramp told Lady reassuringly.

"But you didn't last time," Lady continued worriedly.

"Yeah Pidge, but I'll be more careful this time, promise," Tramp told Lady comfortingly. "Now come on, let's go find our kids."

Lady and Tramp headed into town, but even though they continued to draw further and further away from the nice houses and darkness was beginning to set in, Lady began to regain her confidence with each step. Part of her new confidence was that she had not run into trouble yet, but she was also encouraged by Tramp's buoyant energy and reassuring words. At last, they reached the main street of town.

"Well, here we are Pidge," Tramp told Lady. The main street was relatively quiet, shops were shutting down for the night, and they couldn't see Scamp and Angel anywhere.

"Maybe Scamp and Angel will be in the pet shop," Lady suggested. "They might be interested in sneaking some dog treats."

"Good idea," Tramp replied, and the two of them walked up to the pet shop window. Lady shivered with the sight of it.

"What's the matter Pidge?" Tramp asked her worriedly.

"Oh, nothing," Lady told Tramp. "Just… well, I was muzzled there once, and I won't ever forget it," Lady told Tramp, referring to her incident.

"Aww, you poor pidge," Tramp told her. "Let's not stay here for long. We'll take a quick look."

Lady looked nervously through the pet shop window and scanned the shop, but to her dismay there was only the pet storekeeper, yawning, and some birds chirping in their cages and fish swimming in a large glass tank. "Not here," she told Tramp sadly, dejectedly shaking her head.

"Let's see if we can cover more ground if we separate," Tramp suggested to Lady. "Pidge, you keep looking in the shop windows, while I explore the street hideouts. I know the hideouts in town pretty well, so I'll be able to see if they're hiding in any of them."

Lady agreed, and Tramp left her side while she continued to look through windows. She checked all sorts of shops especially butcher shops where she thought Scamp might like to stop for an afternoon snack, and also schools, thinking that Angel might want to find a child to latch onto for a new family. Yet not only could Lady not find Scamp and Angel, there was no trace of them anywhere she looked. There were none of their loose furs or their muddy tracks, or any other sign of them at all.

Lady, walking sluggishly and with the occasional tear in her eye, sighed with her failure to find her children. She looked up in the pink-tinged sky and hoped with all her heart that wherever they were, they were safe. She couldn't help but to worry what might be happening to them now. Maybe they were stuck in the dogcatcher's truck or even worse, maybe they were being chased and attacked by mean street dogs like the ones who chased her. Shuddering with these worries, Lady rounded the corner of the street and went to return to Tramp. She immediately noticed some trash cans lying on the ground. Then she noticed that Tramp was busy knocking down the trash cans, watching the trash fly out, and grabbing bones out of the cans. She noticed that incredibly, he seemed to be somewhat enjoying himself.

"Tramp!" Lady cried, rushing over to him. "I'm afraid I don't understand… why are you doing that?"

"Pidge, you know those two. They're pretty sneaky, so they're bound to be hiding. From my experience, I know that trash cans can be a great hiding spot for two little puppies. And I might as well have a little fun while I'm at it too!" Tramp told Lady, who stared at him, unconvinced. Hurriedly, he told her, "Well, that looks like all the trash here. Come on Pidge. Let's get out of here…"

Lady followed Tramp down streets, and continued to search long and hard to find their children. Lady looked everywhere inside, peering through the windows, grocery stores, department stores, and even some of the few houses, stopping to catch Scamp's scent as only a mother could. Tramp meanwhile explored the garbage cans, alleyways, and other hiding spots. But neither Lady nor Tramp could find their children or any sign of them anywhere. At last, the two passed a few restaurants, and soon Tramp gasped.

"Hey, Pidge!" Tramp told Lady excitedly.

"Yes?" Lady asked while carefully looking through the window of Francois' Pastries, which turned out to be yet again a disappointment.

"We can stop at Tony's!" Tramp told her happily. "We can relive the good ol' days!"

Lady stopped for a second, hesitating. She was hungry, and Tramp sounded so enthusiastic. But she had to stay on task. Sighing, she asked, "But…who'd find our children?"

"We'll be able to find them better after a full stomach and a nice date," Tramp told Lady, and obligingly, Lady agreed. Though it was a bit irresponsible, Lady couldn't help feeling happy about Tramp's offer. She smiled to herself, pleased that Tramp still wanted to take her on a date. The two of them happily sauntered into Tony's Italian place. "Wait here," Tramp told Lady, just as he did last time, but then he groaned, "Bummer!"

Lady followed over, and she asked, "What?"

"Tony's is closed," Tramp sighed disappointedly. "Come on, Pidge. Let's…"

"Look for our puppies," Lady told Tramp decisively.

Tramp nodded, but the look on his face suggested he wanted to have fun too. Before they left, they found a couple of bones left on a dish right outside Tony's. "Well Pidge, at least we can eat these. It'll give us some more energy for the search and a nice rest," Tramp told Lady happily, and the two of them ate hungrily.

After politely licking her lips, Lady asked Tramp, "Do you have an idea of where to look next?"

Tramp replied while gnawing, "How 'bout let's go look in the junkyard!"

"The junkyard?" Lady cried, taken aback. She remembered the junkyard was home to a dangerous, cruel streetdog named Buster who lured Scamp into his gang before. He was also an old friend of Tramp's. "I should say not… Scamp would never go there again!" Lady cried. She also knew from Tramp that Scamp and Angel defected from Buster's gang, and could be attacked by Buster out of revenge.

"He already did once," Tramp countered. "And Angel knows that place well. It was her home when she was a street dog. Why wouldn't they go there, Pidge?"

Lady hated to think that Scamp would make the same mistake again, but she conceded Tramp had a fair point. Yet she had her own concerns about going to the junkyard. Buster was an old friend of Tramp's, Lady thought. Perhaps they wanted to be together again. And she also considered the possibility that Peg might be lurking in the junk, waiting for her old boyfriend. She feared that Buster or Peg might find the junkyard just the perfect place to meet with Tramp. She nodded, but looked carefully at Tramp and told him, "But let's focus on finding our children."

"Oh, of course!" Tramp told Lady confidently, as Lady gave him a serious look.

The two of them hurried far away into the town, which got increasingly dingy as they approached the junkyard.

"After you, Pidge," Tramp told Lady courteously, and Lady entered through the barrel. A sight of ruin and mess befell her, and a strong stench of dirt, pollution, and sewage clouded her sense of smell. She couldn't see that clearly in the twilight sky, but she could tell that the junkyard was vacant. Lady was disappointed that the junkyard appeared to be another place without any sign of her children, yet she was also relieved in finding that nobody was waiting for Tramp. "Looks like no one's here," Lady told Tramp.

"Oh come on, Pidge," Tramp told her, following. The junk hardly changed from when he was there last, but now instead of having a gang of junkyard dogs, it was completely vacated and empty. "We have to check first. They're clever, cunning street dogs, so they're bound to be hiding."

The two of them entered the junkyard quietly, and through the dim light, skimmed the perimeter of the yard. Then they carefully began to examine the pile of junk.

"Haven't found them yet, have you Pidge?" Tramp asked.

"No, not yet," Lady told Tramp discouraged.

"Let's keep searching," Tramp told Lady enthusiastically. He was digging through a large pile of junk, and he looked like he was thoroughly enjoying himself. He had a much larger dug pile of broken doors, couches, and cans, than Lady, who was not accustomed to digging through piles bigger than the the dirt in Jim Dear's flowerbed, and who only got to a small pile of broken cans.

"Maybe we should stop searching here," Lady sighed. "Unless…"

Lady looked up, and soon, she noticed a wobbly car standing on top of the junk. This gave Lady an idea. "They might be in the broken car," Lady told Tramp. "I will take a look."

Lady hurriedly began to climb up the junk, but Tramp ran up, hurriedly shouting, "Pidge, don't!" She reached the car, climbing up the dangerously fragile pile, and walked in.

"Scamp? Angel? Are you here?" Lady asked. But when she took a step towards the front seat, she gasped. The car began to wobble with her movement, and it began to tip off the pile of junk.

Tramp gasped, "Woah, hold on Pidge!" rushed up the pile of junk, and grabbed Lady by the collar just as the car tumbled off the pile, making a loud crash and causing the pile of junk to fly everywhere. The pile of junk lay scattered everywhere, and there was still no sign of their puppies.

"Well Pidge, at least we finished digging through the junk," Tramp told Lady, eyeing their newly created mess.

"But we still can't find Scamp and Angel," Lady told Tramp sadly.

"You're right," Tramp told Lady, sighing. "I think we've had enough here," Tramp told Lady. "Come on, Pidge. We'll look somewhere else."

But they prepared to leave just a few moments too late.


	7. Runaway Puppies!

DISCLAIMER: Lady and the Tramp, 101 Dalmatians, and their worlds belong to Disney.

Chapter 7- Runaway Puppies!

Lady and Tramp left through the same barrel at the junkyard where they entered. But as they exited, two puppies were crossing the road a few hundred yards and a few corners in front of them. Hurriedly dashing down the next sidewalk, Scamp and Angel were actually hiding in the junkyard, but when Lady and Tramp were investigating the car, Scamp and Angel got the chance to run from their hiding place at the side of the barrel and leave the junkyard.

"I told you it was a bad place!" Angel told Scamp breathlessly, frustrated, as they crossed another street. "Your father's bound to suspect the junkyard after your previous incident!"

"But it worked!" Scamp told Angel, huffing and walking briskly down the street. "Dad would get distracted in the mess!"

Angel smiled. "You're right, Tenderfoot," Angel replied affectionately. "Come on… let's go find somewhere else. But first…"

Angel looked at Scamp, and Scamp noticed she had a slight scowl on her face. Then she looked at a hole in the fence and declared, "We've got to do something."

"Well, what?" Scamp asked.

"Rip off my collar," Angel told Scamp. "I feel horrible with this on. I'll do yours, okay?"

Scamp nodded vigorously, and with fervor, they got the collars off of each other's necks.

"Follow me," Angel told Scamp. "Let's stick together."

And Angel, after looking through the hole to check if the coast was clear, squeezed through it, with Scamp following.

"Thanks for running away with me," Angel told Scamp affectionately. "I didn't want to have to leave you behind."

"Trust me, I'm sick of them too," Scamp told Angel, and they both laughed. Angel then placed the collars in the junkyard at their old hiding place at the side of the barrel. Then she and Scamp hurriedly ran back and squeezed through the same hole that they entered in. "They would've found us easier if we continued to wear these awful things," Angel told Scamp disdainfully as they continued down the street, returning to their brisk pace.

"Yeah, and I feel freer from them now," Scamp told Angel enthusiastically, who also nodded fervently. Scamp noticed Angel's vigor, and asked, "So, why do you want to run away, anyway? I thought you always wanted a family, and even like baths! I never thought you would want to do this."

"They're not much of a family," Angel replied as they passed a lamp post. "The way your father played with my mother's heart is sickening. We're going to find a real family."

"Yeah, Pop lies all the time," Scamp growled. "Remember when he said that we could go down to the river together? He never took me out once! And thanks to Mom, we never have any freedom in that place. She babies me all the time and she likes to be cooped up, at least Dad wants to be free."

Scamp cleared his throat abruptly and asked, "Why don't we just live together on our own? We can have adventure and take care of ourselves and have fun! We can be free! You suggested that before when…."

Angel stared at Scamp blankly for a few seconds. "But that was before we found a family! I can't believe you're saying that, Scamp. But you must have lived with them all of your life," Angel growled contemptuously. "No wonder why you feel like that, and why you ran away in the first place. Of all of my families, they're the worst."

Scamp nodded, before saying, "Angel, I don't want to be a junkyard dog. We don't need them to be free and have adventures. Maybe there's an exciting family out there with not too many rules," Scamp thought. "Let's find one of them. We could run off together and have fun, but we'll still be part of a family."

Angel nodded, happy that her boyfriend was still interested in a family. "Great!" she cheerfully told him.

Smiling, Scamp added, "In the mean time, let's have some fun!"

"Okay, tenderfoot!" Angel playfully growled. The two of them saw a squirrel on the street and decided to race toward it. Scamp nearly caught up to it, he saw the skinny blur of brown fur go racing past him. "Gotcha!" Scamp declared, but then he tripped over a can, fell, and smiled embarrassedly. "Oops… I tripped on the… uh, round thingy!" Scamp gasped.

Angel playfully laughed. She just loved how clumsy her boyfriend was. Scamp grinned, knowing that Angel was only affectionately laughing at him. But as he got up, he gasped. He heard an all too familiar voice saying, "Well Pidge, they're not here. Let's check out this corner." The voice was drawing nearer and nearer with each syllable.

Scamp froze. "Oh no! It's Pop! Run!" Scamp shouted to Angel, and the two of them scampered down the road.

"Whew!" Angel gasped, panting.

"That was close," Scamp added as they crossed another street.

They hurried away so fast that by the time Lady and Tramp actually turned the corner, the two of them were well out of sight. Panting, Scamp shouted happily, "Wahoo! I've never had this much chance to stretch my legs since my days on the street!"

"Me neither!" Angel told Scamp cheerfully. "We have to watch out for your, uh, parents though. They do seem persistent."

"Sure," Scamp told Angel excitedly. "Of course," Scamp told Angel. "We can fool them any day."

"We'll lose them once they find our collars," Angel told Scamp, and the two of them giggled happily as they crossed streets and alleys, and they chased fireflies excitedly in the night. Scamp swallowed some of them, which made Angel giggle affectionately. "You know any part of town that Pop doesn't know about?" Scamp asked cheerfully as they reached another street.

"I don't know," Angel told Scamp thoughtfully. "The Tramp's a legendary street dog, but maybe your mother has been keeping him tied in long enough so that he has lost his touch."

They were now in a far off area of town. Scamp eagerly proclaimed. "Wow! I've never seen this place!"

"Nor have I!" Angel exclaimed. "Maybe there will be some people who can take us in!"

But then, Scamp and Angel heard a familiar creaking of wheels and crunch of gravel and then, some sort of loud, crazy hollering. Turning around, they gasped.

"Oh no!" Angel cried. "The dogcatcher!"

"Let's hide in the trash cans!" Scamp declared, and they hurriedly left the sidewalk and jumped into the nearest trash basket.

Angel stood on top of Scamp, poking her head out of the trash can a little bit with the lid on her head while she monitored the scene. "I'll let you know when it's all clear," Angel told Scamp.

Then suddenly, Angel gasped. "The dogcatcher got out of his car!" she hissed.

The dogcatcher prowled through the streets. "Aha! I thought I saw some hoodlums!" he shouted.

Scamp and Angel stood there for a while, not moving. Scamp groaned, "Angel… you're getting heavy!"

"He's not gone yet," Angel told Scamp. "Say something to take your mind off this," Angel suggested.

"Okay," Scamp replied. He thought for a moment, then asked, "Where's your mom?"

"I don't know," Angel told Scamp. "But I hope I can find her soon. We can't talk to her yet though. We'd have to make a pretty loud bark, and your parents will recognize my bark by now. They'll get the message and bring us home. Maybe we'll find Mama ourselves. But when we get adopted, I'll send a call out for her and then we'll ask our new pets if she can be adopted."

After a long wait, the dogcatcher finally got in his car and rolled by, hollering insanely. As soon as he was out of sight, Angel whispered to Scamp, "It's all clear."

Angel then tipped over the trash can, and the can toppled downward with the trash splattering all over the place. "Whew!" Scamp groaned, exhausted with holding up Angel's weight.

"Thanks for holding me up, Tenderfoot," Angel nuzzled him affectionately.

"No problem," Scamp smiled, trying to conceal his exhaustion.

"Getting hungry?" Scamp asked. "I found some pickings at the bottom!"

"Sure!" Angel cheerily replied. Together, the two of them ravaged through the trash, and ate a few meat scraps, licking their lips with their discovery.

"Wanna find an area out here to live of some sort?" Scamp asked excitedly. "Know of any cool places to move in?"

"What about looking for our new family?" Angel asked. "There has to be someone out here who will take us in. And we need to find them before your parents find us."

"Relax," Scamp told Angel, yawning. "We can always look tomorrow, and we can outsmart them. In the mean time, we can have fun on the streets! We don't have to worry about Buster this time!"

"All right," Angel sighed. She looked up at the pitch black sky and heard the clock tower jangle ten times. "I suppose it's getting dark, so that's all we can do for now. Let's make the best of it! Watch this!" Angel chased her tail, and grabbed it again.

Scamp and Angel found a chewed up ball in the trash, and they batted it back and forth under the street light. Scamp smiled, thinking that while his old days of being out in streets were fun, here he had time with his one and only true friend. Angel smiled too, knowing that she found a great friend in Scamp. The two of them silently reflected about how lucky they were to have each other as they kicked the ball back and forth, play growling, and laughing at each others', especially Scamp's, silly efforts to get the ball.

Yawning, Scamp told Angel, "I'm tired… let's get some sleep."

"Me too Tenderfoot," Angel agreed. "Good night."

Scamp and Angel entered their trash can, and while the breeze outside chilled them, Scamp and Angel didn't feel cold because they snuggled closely together to keep each other warm. They smiled contentedly as they looked into each other's eyes, and they felt their eyes close as they fell into a cozy slumber.


	8. Busted!

DISCLAIMER: Lady and the Tramp, 101 Dalmatians, and their worlds belong to Disney.

Ch. 8— Busted

Angel and Scamp awoke the next day to find a cloudless blue sky and a shining sun. When Scamp opened his eyes, he looked at his surroundings. He was still out on the streets, and nobody was there but Angel and himself! He cheered, "Hee-hee-hee! They haven't found us yet!"

"Good job, tenderfoot!" Angel giggled, also overjoyed that she was undiscovered. "Now it's time to find a family!"

They walked out of their garbage can and at once Angel moved to a lamppost at the corner of the street. She began to watch the cars and pedestrians pass by. She stared at each car and pedestrian that moved with puppy eyes and a persistently wagging tail. "Somebody will come to adopt me!" Angel declared happily.

"Can't we have some fun?" Scamp asked, as he eventually got up and followed her.

"Okay then," Angel told him excitedly. They did a lot of things to pass time while waiting for their new owner. They started by continuing to play with their ball that they found last night. Then Scamp tried to improve his street trick technique but to no avail, and Angel corrected him with some teasing affection. After a while, the two of them were getting hungry again.

"How about let's find some food?" Scamp asked Angel.

"Okay then," Angel told Scamp, preoccupied. The two of them went to grab some hot dogs at a hot dog stand for lunch. The salesperson was giving a hot dog to a young boy. Angel was excited. "Maybe he'll take us in!" Angel excitedly said.

She instantly rubbed against the little kid, who began laughing. Meanwhile, Scamp jumped up and grabbed a pair of hotdogs standing at the edge of the stand.

"Cute puppy!" the kid declared.

"Willy, time to go home now," came a voice.

"Oh! Buh-bye!" the boy told Angel, and he rushed back to his mother towards the car. Angel tried to follow him, but as the car drove away, her ears wilted in disappointment.

"Psst… Angel, I got the hot dogs," Scamp whispered. "Let's get out of here."

"Oh, all right," Angel told Scamp sadly. "But I was so close."

"Cheer up," Scamp told Angel. "We'll find someone else."

Angel smiled at Scamp, feeling happier. They returned to standing on the street corner to look for an owner, and began eating hot dogs. "Tenderfoot, I guess you were right," Angel told Scamp. "That mother probably was too strict. We're gonna find a family that will not enforce dumb rules and go to bad shows like yours." Scamp happily nodded his tail in agreement.

But the afternoon turned out to be no better than the morning. The drivers and pedestrians passing by hardly gave any attention or thought to Angel, no matter how cute her puppy eyes or wagging tail were. She became less and less enthusiastic as the day wore on with no success.

Discouraged, Angel told Scamp, "Come on tenderfoot… let's go," and they walked further and further into town. As dusk fell, the two of them found themselves in a part of town that even Angel never saw before. The street was dark, and was filled with plenty of tall buildings. On a couple of signs, Scamp read the word, "Hotels".

"These are the places where these snobby dog showers go to stay," Scamp groaned.

"At least we're far away from your parents," Angel told Scamp fervently.

The two of them rounded another corner, and there, they noticed a familiar sight.

"Oh no, it's Buster!" Scamp groaned as Angel gasped.

Buster, Scamp and Angel's old gang leader, was clearly and unmistakably there. He was looking malicious and very satisfied about something. Accompanying him was a small white puppy with black spots and a patch on his eye. This puppy looked up at Buster adoringly and with great excitement. Two other puppies, also white with black spots followed, but less enthusiastically. All three of them were wearing collars.

"We gotta get out of here!" Scamp whispered, and he and Angel hurried away and hid in a set of bushes. But by then, it was too late.

"So where are we going next, Buster?" the puppy with the patch excitedly asked him.

Buster was not looking at the puppy, however. He was looking at the bushes where Scamp and Angel were. Then he loudly shouted, "First things first Patchy, I found you a test. If you wanna be a junkyard dog, get me those two puppies that went in the bushes to the right," Buster told the puppy with the patch.

The puppy in the patch stopped in his tracks and looked confusedly at Buster. "Why?" he asked curiously.

"Because if you don't, they'll go tell on you. They know your parents," Buster answered, grinning maliciously. "Drag them over, and then I'll take care of them."

The puppy with the patch nodded, and told Buster, "This is just like Episode 68 on Thunderbolt!" and Scamp and Angel, cornered with a wall and trapped in the bushes, were unable to move. The puppy with patch rushed into the bushes, looked on either side of him, and then growled at Scamp and Angel when he noticed them at last.

"So, there you two are," the puppy with the patch growled. "Trying to find us, are you?"

"What?" Scamp asked confusedly. "Your… parents?"

"Get out, or I'll make you!" the puppy with the patch demanded, holding up his paw threateningly.

Scamp and Angel looked at each other nervously, but realized there was no point in trying to hide. Deciding to take the risk, Scamp and Angel walked out and Buster looked delighted. "Well, well, well, Patchy-boy. You passed your test… now, it's my turn!"

But Angel blustered out, "Don't listen to him at all!"

The spotted puppies turned and stared at Angel, looking at her attentively. She continued nervously, "I was part of his gang beforehand… and he's horrible! He doesn't care about you at all!"

"Quiet Angelcakes!" Buster roared.

Scamp added, "We're runaways ourselves! We don't even know your parents!"

The puppy with three spots on her ears turned to the patched puppy and asked him quietly, "You know Patch, how would they know your parents?"

"Don't ask questions!" Buster roared at the puppy with the spotted ears. Then he turned to Patch. "Come on kid, you wanna be wild and free. And you don't want to have to live with those parents anymore, do you?"

Scamp froze. He heard words just like those before.

"Listen!" Angel protested. "He did the same thing to Scamp over here as he's doing to you!"

"That's enough, Angel-cakes!" Buster roared. "You're gonna be sorry!" He then moved in to attack Angel and Scamp. The spotted puppies gasped, but then, they were interrupted…

"Wahoo!" came a loud, carrying voice. "A-ha! There are some more hoodlums!"

"Oh no!" Scamp gasped.

Behind them, came the dogcatcher, who drove in his car and drew closer and closer to Buster and the puppies.

"What's going on?" the third Dalmatian puppy asked. He had black ears like Patch, but lacked Patch's distinctive patch around his eye.

"It's the dogcatcher!" Angel answered, frozen with fear.

Buster himself ran off far ahead, leaving Patch to ask, "Wait? Where're you going?"

"To save myself," Buster told him unconcernedly.

"But…" Patch began, beginning to cry. "I thought you were my friend!"

"Kid, if you want to be part of the gang, you've got to follow the motto. And the motto is every dog fends for himself. Buster's trouble is Buster's trouble, just like yours, Patchy. That's the essential motto of being a junkyard dog."

Scamp couldn't help being reminded of when he was in Buster's gang. He instantly couldn't help feeling pity for Patch, and it suddenly dawned on him that the two of them were really not much different.

"Buster! Come back!" Patch told him, crying. He continued to try to call for Buster again, but he disappeared. Patch's voice then stopped and he held his head down, his ears wilting in disappointment. "Some friend you are," he sobbed.

The puppy with the spotted ears began to cuddle Patch softly, telling him, "It's okay Patch...I'm still here for you."

Angel told Patch, "You're okay? Don't feel bad, Buster's a big bully. He doesn't have any problems seeing his so-called friends get hurt," Angel told him.

"Yeah, he betrayed me too," Scamp told Patch. "He trapped us with that dogcatcher who attacks any puppy without a collar like us."

However, Angel had a look of terror in her eyes, Scamp turned, and abruptly, they were both lifted into a net. With Patch's problems, they completely forgot about the dogcatcher coming!

"There ya go! I never thought I'd see you two again! Full speed ahead!" the dogcatcher cried.

"Hurry! We got to stop him!" Patch declared.

Then, the spotted puppies abruptly jumped from the sidewalk and chewed open the net. Scamp and Angel slipped through it and joined up with the spotted puppies.

"Are you all right?" the puppy with the spotted ears asked.

"I guess so," Scamp answered.

"Thanks," Angel whispered.

"Hey there! Five against one's not fair!" the dogcatcher screamed as he felt his empty net, but by then, the car rolled far enough ahead to notice Buster, who was lying in the middle of the street, gazing excitedly at the truck with an evil sneer.

"Ah, I hope all of those little house dogs are in there," he smiled devilishly.

The dogcatcher, however, came out, with a very large net. Buster smirked, "Well, well, well… he thinks he can fight me."

But then, the dogcatcher cackled, "A-ha! You again! You won't be able to get away from this net! It's a foolproof solution! Ha!"

Buster gasped, and then he realized he was caught. He tried to bite at the net, but this net was too strong. After some effort, the catcher lifted him in the back.

Angel, Scamp, and the spotted puppies peered their heads out of the bushes. Buster, glaring at the dogcatcher from the back of the truck, just noticed them.

"Hey Scampster! Patchy! Angelcakes!" he roared at them. "I can use some help!"

"Yeah, and you'd leave me out there like that," Patch told Buster contemptuously. "No thanks."

"Oh, come on!" Buster roared, but Angel shook her head. She gave Buster a tantalizing smile and told him, "Sorry Buster… but you deserve it."

The dogcatcher started the engine and the truck rolled off, cheerfully humming as Buster glared at them in the back seat.

"Wahoo!" Scamp cheered as he left the bushes. "No more Buster or dogcatcher to deal with today, haha!"

Scamp and Patch continued to giggle. Then Patch smiled at Scamp. "Thanks for being real friends," he told Scamp and Angel, and all the puppies smiled warmly at each other.


	9. The Car of Disguise

Ch. 9— The Car of Disguise

Now together, the runaway puppies decided to walk down a few streets. They smiled at each other for a little bit before Scamp turned to the spotted puppies.

"My name's Scamp, and she's Angel, my girlfriend," Scamp introduced himself and Angel, who nodded friendlily.

"My name's Patch," Patch told them brightly.

"I'm Lucky," the black-eared puppy greeted them.

"And I'm Penny," the spotted eared puppy smiled.

"Do you know where we are?" Scamp asked.

"No," Patch answered. "We're from London and we're on a trip, but well… can you keep a secret?"

"I promise," Scamp told them. Angel looked at him worriedly, remembering the last time Scamp promised to keep a secret.

"Well, we're running away," Penny told Scamp hesitatingly.

"Same with us!" Scamp declared happily. "We're running away because of our bad parents."

Angel looked at Scamp, and shook her head with disgust, before saying, "They're disgusting… at least they're not my parents."

"My parents are bad too," Patch told them, casting a furtive glare at Lucky as he spoke. Lucky didn't seem to react, but Penny gave a soft sigh.

Lucky then told them, "I'm getting pretty hungry."

"I'll get the food," Scamp volunteered eagerly.

"I'll come with you!" Patch told him brightly, and the two puppies bounded down the road together.

"We'll wait back by the lamppost we were at before to look for a family!" Angel told them brightly.

"Okay, see you!" Patch told them. Then Scamp and Patch began to look for a food cart.

"I'm really frustrated with my parents," Patch told Scamp. "They don't care about me at all... I'm just one of ninety-nine to them."

"Mine don't care either," Scamp told Patch commiseratingly. "They just don't let me be myself..." he sighed.

Patch nodded understandingly. "I know what you mean...my parents want to send us to these dog shows. And I'm not interested. But they don't care," Patch told Scamp.

"I see why'd you want to run away. It's a bunch of silly stuff," Scamp spat bitterly. "My sisters are also entering. I'm fed up with them, they're just prissy and whiny and love to boss me around!"

"Yeah, I'm fed up with my siblings too," Patch told Scamp. "I don't know why Lucky's running away. He's everybody's favorite, and we all know it. Even he does. And then there's Rolly who never stops complaining about food, and Cadpig who always talks about this new age philosophy stuff. At least I'm free out here."

"Yeah," Scamp nodded. "Mom always has these stupid rules. She babies us all the time, and Pop always lies about his promises. I'm just fed up!" Scamp shouted, but he couldn't help but smile a bit because at least he now had someone to talk to about his problems.

The two of them continued to talk about their problems, feeling better with each word, and got some bacon strips. Then they ran back to the newly lit lamppost with them. Angel, Penny, and Lucky were waiting for them, and the five puppies then began to eat happily.

"Do you know the streets well?" Patch asked Scamp with great interest as he finished his bacon.

"Well, uh…yeah!" Scamp told Patch happily.

"Yeah right tenderfoot," Angel told Scamp doubtfully. "I do though. I was a former street dog," Angel told them proudly.

Patch, Penny, and Lucky looked impressed. "Do you know of a hiding place?" Patch asked. "I might know of one, Buster mentioned…"

"But Patch, what if Buster goes back to that place?" Penny interrupted.

Patch then sighed, "You're right Penny." Then he turned to Scamp and Angel. "Any other places you can think of?"

"Well, no, not near here," Angel admitted. "And it might not do us any good. His dad was also a street dog, so he can find us quickly."

"Aw shucks," Patch told them sadly.

"I don't want to run away anymore," Lucky told Patch sadly. "I want to go home to watch television!"

"You're already out, so you'd just spill on us," Patch answered mistrustfully, although Penny looked hesitant.

"Patch, are you sure it wouldn't be best for Lucky to go back?" Penny asked him.

Patch nodded, and then told Lucky, "Okay Lucky, if you wanna go back to the dog show, just leave." Lucky looked back, but he didn't move.

"Well, we better get away from here," Patch told Scamp. "We only just escaped… my parents are still nearby."

"Oh, that's bad," Scamp groaned, frustrated. "Mine are looking for us too. We have to hide somewhere."

The puppies stood walked down the streets, not knowing where they were going, still thinking about where they could go. Finally, Scamp cleared his throat before saying, "Hey! I know where we can stay!"

Angel looked curiously at Scamp, and the dalmatian puppies looked excited. Lucky asked, "Well, where?"

"It's a railroad," Scamp explained.

"Oh, cool!" Patch explained. "They have trains all the time on Thunderbolt! It sounds like fun!"

"Yeah!" Scamp exclaimed. "It's abandoned too. We went there to find…"

They began to walk back to the railroad, but Angel raced in front of them and blocked their path. "No, Scamp, we can't!"

"Come on, why not?" Scamp asked.

"The railroad is far away from all the houses, and then we won't be able to find any family," Angel explained stubbornly.

"We don't need a family," Patch told Angel. "We can live on our own, right Scamp?"

Scamp nodded in agreement, but Penny and Lucky's expressions were clearly less receptive to that idea, and Angel sighed.

"Is there any other place?" Lucky asked.

But before Patch or Scamp could reply, a blinding light blinded all of them.

"What's going on?" Penny asked, scared.

"Jim Dear must have gotten a car," Scamp added nervously.

"Maybe it's a new family!" Angel exclaimed happily.

The others were preparing to run away but Angel refused to move. Penny and Lucky soon joined her, leaving a frustrated Patch and Scamp to have no choice than to stay with them.

Scamp was half-right. A small, red car was standing in front of the group of puppies, all huddled together nervously. The car light turned off, and inside, a woman with chubby cheeks, dimples, well-tanned skin, and long red hair stuck her head out of the window.

"Well, well, well!" she smiled happily as she opened the door of the car. "Look at all those puppies! And my, such wonderful coats!" She was wearing a loose pink dress, and was quite rotund.

"Is she a bit familiar?" Penny asked, confused.

"But… no…" Patch told her firmly. "She doesn't look like that…"

Scamp and Angel had no idea of what they were talking about. Angel was looking simply delighted. "This is our chance," Angel declared excitedly. "We can find a family now!"

Angel hurriedly pawed up at the woman, and gave her puppy eyes, as Scamp was biting on her furiously wagging tail and trying and failing to drag her backward.

"Wait a minute!" Scamp shouted. "We don't even know if she has strict rules or not!"

"She can take us into the neighborhoods," Angel told him stubbornly. "And I want a family no matter what, even if they do have rules," she told Scamp bluntly. "I just want to find a caring family and to be with Mama again!"

"Well, fine!" Scamp pouted, bristling. "If you're gonna act like that, I don't want a family!"

"Well," the woman smiled happily in a deep voice. "Such wonderful puppies. All right, I'll take you in," she told them, smiling. She picked up the puppies and threw them into the back seat of the car. She then left to a restroom on the other side of the street.

"Rats," Patch complained. "We've been caught already. She's probably going to take us back to our parents."

"Or the pound!" Penny gasped nervously.

"Don't worry about it," Angel told them, smiling. "She looks nice enough."

The woman ran back in a couple of minutes, looking much skinnier from a distance, and her cheeks, contrary from being chubby, looked almost skeletal, though they couldn't really see her in the dim light that was left, and she was carrying something. When she re-entered the car and locked it up tightly, she threw down a bag of stuffing and a red wig.

"Vengeance is sweet," the woman drawled in a cackle, her deep voice vanished, becoming very harsh. "And with the same tactic you used on me," she declared as she turned on the car and began to drive at breakneck speed.

"What does she mean?" Angel asked.

"I don't know… well, at least it's soft back here," Lucky told the others.

"What's this?" Scamp asked, chewing on something. "It feels like… fur…"

"Fur?" Patch asked, and the puppies looked over the seat. So did Penny and Lucky. Scamp and Angel looked confused. But as the car began to move and passed under a streetlight, they noticed that a large, fur coat was covering the seat. Patch, Penny, and Lucky's eyes widened, and then they gasped in horror.

"What?" Angel asked.

The three of them were quiet for a bit, before Penny stuttered nervously, "It's Cruella!"


	10. Meeting of the Parents

Disclaimer: Lady and the Tramp, 101 Dalmatians, and their worlds belong to Disney.

Chapter 10- Meeting of the Parents

That night, Lady and Tramp continued to look hard for Scamp and Angel, unaware that they were so close to finding them earlier that evening. "Oh, I just hope they're all right," Lady cried. "It's my fault that they're gone… I shouldn't have been so moody."

"Aww Pidge, you didn't do any harm," Tramp comforted her, placing a paw on her back. "Pidge, you must be getting tired," Tramp told her thoughtfully. "Why don't we just settle down for the night? A bit of rest could do us some good. Then we can continue looking tomorrow,"

"I guess we could," Lady worried, sighing. "But what if… well, what if we never see them again?"

"Pidge, Angel and Scamp can handle themselves, you'd be surprised. They'll be fine. All we need to do is just to find them," Tramp confidently told Lady, who felt much better.

The two of them continued to stroll down the sidewalks, remaining on the lookout all the time, and soon noticed the shadows of some tall buildings in the distance. "Come on Pidge, let's go over there for a place to sleep," Tramp recommended.

Lady followed Tramp as he swaggered down the sidewalk while the little sunlight that remained began to wane. By the time they arrived near the buildings, the sun was completely gone. The only lights remaining belonged to the lampposts on the street and some of the buildings, which Lady soon realized were called hotels.

"What are hotels?" Lady asked Tramp, continuing to walk down some streets.

"Places where visitors come to stay," Tramp told Lady. Lady and Tramp made their way down the street looking for a place to stay, and finally they found some hotel steps that were comfy and carpeted. Tramp got onto them, saying, "Pidge, let's sleep here."

But Lady told Tramp, "Doesn't this place say No Dogs Allowed?" reading the sign.

Tramp looked above, "Yeah… but that's only for the carpet. Come on, let's go sleep on the grass. There's not a rule about that, they wouldn't have thought of that." Tramp cleverly told Lady, and Lady panted happily. Tramp jumped off the steps and Lady followed, and the two of them soon lovingly slept on the grass at the side of the hotel.

"Night Pigeon," Tramp told Lady, licking her.

"Good night Tramp," Lady told Tramp affectionately, nuzzling against him.

Lady stared at the street, and she felt her eyes close. She opened her eyes again, and she realized that she was standing in the clouds. And there all of a sudden, was a cool, cocky looking street-dog standing with Tramp. Lady realized that this dog must be Buster. He was talking to Tramp, smirking at him.

"You don't want to be stuck in this prissy little girl's house, do you Tramp?" Buster drawled in a cool, Italian-accented voice. "You wanna be out on the street, like me. You wanna be a junkyard dog."

"Of course I do!" Tramp told the dog excitedly. "It'll be back to you and me, Buster."

"Tramp, don't go!" Lady cried. "How could he possibly leave me?" she thought to herself.

"Sorry princess, but he hates your stupid prissy little home," Buster told her harshly.

"Tramp!" Lady cried in anguish. "No! I… I love you! Don't you love me?"

"I don't love you anymore," Tramp told Lady coldly. "I have somebody else."

And then, walking out of a cloud, was Peg, in her shaggy blonde coat. She instantly rubbed against Tramp, batted her eyes, and sneered to Lady, "Why would he ever want you and your fussy little home when he has me!"

"Tramp! Please don't go!" Lady sobbed.

"Pidgeon, I'd gotta be with my friends on the street," Tramp told Lady. Then he, Buster, and Peg laughed as they walked away.

"No!" Lady gasped, shaking, unable to move.

She then lifted her head up and felt her heart racing. She was back to looking out at the street. Tramp was still by her side. "It was a dream," Lady told herself. "Tramp's still here… and those street dogs haven't led him away yet. And he's with me."

"You're okay Pidge?" Tramp asked her worriedly. "I heard you talking to yourself in your sleep!"

"Oh, don't worry about me, I'm just fine," Lady told Tramp, trying to smile. How much had he heard?

Still breathing hard, Lady just noticed the bright sky above. Then she heard noises near the hotel. Lady hurriedly looked up, and saw two dalmatians hurriedly dashing down the road, talking in hushed, hurried voices.

"Oh Pongo, Rolly and Cadpig will be so afraid!" one of the dalmatians cried worriedly. She had a British accent and blue collar. "What would they do without us?"

"Pongo…" Lady thought. She heard that name somewhere before.

"Perdy, calm down. Our pets would be able to take care of them just fine," answered the other dalmatian. He also had a British accent but wore a red collar.

"I'm still concerned… what if Cruella has got them?" Perdy asked, afraid.

"Our pets are both suspicious of Cruella now," Pongo told her. "And besides, she's probably still in Scotland Yard all the same."

"Maybe we should stay off the main road," Pongo advised. "In case our pets are looking for us. They'll be bound to soon."

Perdy nodded, and the two of them hurried right toward the hotel where Lady and Tramp were. As they got closer to the grassy patch, Perdy caught sight of Lady and Tramp who were watching them.

Perdy gasped upon seeing them. "Oh Pongo, we've been spotted!" she cried, alarmed.

Pongo hurried over to Lady and Tramp. "Are you two hotel dogs?"

"No…" Lady replied. "I'm not sure if we're supposed to be here."

Pongo asked, "Well... why are you here then, miss?"

"We're looking for our children," Lady answered.

"Really?" Perdy asked, relieved. "We are too."

Pongo introduced himself, smiling. "My name's Pongo, and she's Perdita."

Then Lady suddenly remembered. "You two are the famous Pongo and Perdita?" Lady asked. "The ones with ninety nine puppies?"

"Yes, that would be us," Pongo told Lady.

Tramp smiled at them. "Pidge and I were in London when it happened," he explained. "We took part in the Twilight Bark. I can't believe we're actually meeting you!" Tramp then coughed and asked, "So what's happening now with your puppies? Have they been kidnapped?"

Pongo told them, "No, not this time. We lost three of our children when we were taking a walk. They must have run away from us. We don't really understand why… just Perdy disciplined the kids a bit, we had a bit of a rough ride getting here, and they're probably bored and sick of the shows. That's why we came here, because our kids were going to compete in the dog show."

"So are three of ours," Lady told Pongo and Perdita. "Not our children who ran away, though."

"I feel so sad… how could they run away from us? I feel just like the meaning of my name," Perdita sighed. "It means lost."

"Well, it's a very pretty name, just as pretty as you," Tramp told her comfortingly. But then Tramp noticed a glare from Lady, and Tramp looked carefully at her, with a bit of guilt. Dark thoughts, meanwhile, were racing through Lady's head. What if her dream was true, what if Tramp didn't really care about her?

Pongo then asked, "So what is going on in your house?"

Tramp answered, "Well, well, we have… well, a similar problem. You see, we live in this cramped, cooped-up house with absolutely nothing to do… where we can't have a life full of the joys of adventure and excitement and basically living…"

"Tramp!" Lady cried, alarmed. She was reminded forcefully of the Tramp of her dream.

"Sorry, Pidge," he stated winking toward Lady. "Well, to make it short, our puppies ran away because they were bored…"

"And you forgot the other reason," Lady wheedled.

"Other…reason?" Tramp asked, but it his tone of voice plainly suggested that he knew exactly what Lady was talking about.

"About your past," Lady added.

Pongo and Perdita looked at Tramp curiously. Tramp evasively told Lady, "Oh, yes, yes…but we're not going to talk about that now. We have puppies to find."

Lady added, "Tramp's old girlfriend came home and tried to seduce him away from me. Unfortunately she's the mother of my son's girlfriend. So now my son's girlfriend ran away, and my son, who has always been unhappy, has run away too. I'm afraid that they hate us…I can't stand it… because I love them so much…"

Pongo and Perdita looked at Lady understandingly. "Well, let's try to find all of our puppies. So, let's get out of here," Pongo insisted. "We've got to get going before our pets can spot us. Where are your pets?"

"Far from here," Lady replied sadly. "But they might be coming for the show."

"What are your kid's markings?" Tramp asked, as the four parents crossed a street.

"They look like us," Perdita answered sadly. "Lucky has black ears, Penny has white ears with three black spots, and Patch has black ears and a patch over his eye. I miss them all…"

Perdita began to cry a little bit. "Aww… don't worry about it Perdy," Tramp told Perdita caressingly. Lady glared at Tramp again. How come he was paying so much attention to Perdita, anyway?

"And what are your kids' markings?" Pongo asked.

"My son, Scamp, looks just like my husband, but smaller," Lady told him. "Angel, his girlfriend, is blonde, has tall ears and blue eyes."

The four of them hurried off through a park, and they hoped beyond hope that the puppies were there. They started of by looking along the riverbed, but they couldn't find any of them.

"You didn't see anyone that looked like our children before we met, did you?" Lady asked.

"No, we were in our hotel room, and then we were too preoccupied with losing ours," Pongo answered.

Lady sighed understandingly. Even with Tramp with them and now two more parents to join the search, this was still going to be a long, hard search for the four of them to undertake.


	11. Lady's Blue Morning

DISCLAIMER: Lady and the Tramp, 101 Dalmatians, and their worlds belong to Disney.

Chapter 11—Lady's Blue Morning

The four parents explored the park and continued to search for their puppies. Together, they scanned the park carefully, but couldn't find any of their puppies whatsoever.

"Bad luck," Pongo sighed, shaking his head.

"I don't know where they could be," Perdita sighed worriedly, her ears drooping sadly. "Oh, if only I knew…"

"Ah, that's okay Perdy," Tramp told her consolingly. "Why don't we… look for them together?"

Lady looked at Tramp, alarmed. "Tramp…" she gasped, worriedly.

"Oh, Pidge," Tramp gasped, confusedly. "What's wrong? I only want to walk with Perdy alone to comfort…"

"You know what's wrong! We've been through this!" Lady cried out. "First Trixie…then Lulu… then Fifi… then Rosita Chiquita… then Peg… now me!"

At once, Lady glared at Tramp. She realized that the Tramp that she loved was just a fantasy, for she was indeed with the Tramp of her nightmare. "But I won't let him leave me," Lady told herself, and without a word, she quickly tore off herself.

"Pidge, where are you going! Come back!" Tramp cried. But Lady ran away so quickly that in a matter of seconds she was out of Tramp's sight. She cried her way down the path, and didn't look at anyone as she disappeared behind many garbage cans, and trees. She sighed as she found a place to rest, and sighed. She knew she had to come to the realization that her love for Tramp was not mutual and that nobody really loved her at all.

Meanwhile, Pongo, Perdita, and Tramp were looking for Lady. "We can't find her in this mess," Pongo sighed, holding his head down.

"How could she just think I'd abandon her like that!" Tramp asked, gasping. Then Tramp raced back and forth and shouted, "Pidge!

Pongo and Perdita stared sadly at Tramp. Then Pongo shook his head and said, "Perdy, would you mind looking by yourself for a bit?" Pongo asked. "I want to have a chat with Tramp... a guy thing, if you'd understand."

Perdita nodded, and went off to search for Lady and the puppies. Then Pongo turned to Tramp and told him, "Can we have a talk?"

"I guess," Tramp told Pongo sadly. He was thoroughly put out and stared glumly at the ground.

"So… what was Lady talking about?" Pongo told Tramp.

"Well, okay, I'll tell you," Tramp sighed. "I have had a bad romantic past, and I've dumped many girlfriends. But Pidge should know that I wouldn't dump her… I mean, I gave up my life on the streets for her and we had puppies!" Tramp cried. "Women… I just don't understand them."

"So… you were a cad?" Pongo asked, surprised.

"Yeah," Tramp told Pongo sadly. "But I'm not anymore, Pidge is the only one I've loved for a long time now," he answered.

"Was Angel's mother one of your old girlfriends?" Pongo asked. Tramp nodded.

"So Scamp and Angel must have ran off because they were heartbroken and felt like you lied to and betrayed them… and Lady must have done the same…" Pongo told him thoughtfully.

"That's probably right," Tramp told Pongo dourly.

"So maybe you should do something to make Lady feel better…" Pongo told Tramp.

"Like what?" Tramp asked hopelessly.

"Remind Lady that you love her," Pongo told Tramp. "Be kind to her and give her your affection. I wouldn't talk to Perdy as much as you did, I think Lady couldn't help but to get a little bit jealous."

Tramp told Pongo, "Thanks Pongo… you helped. I just… well, I just couldn't think straight."

Pongo told Tramp, "You're welcome." Then he sighed, "Look Tramp, you should go and get her back right now. The longer you wait, the harder time you'll have finding her. So… get out there and good luck!"

Tramp hurried through the massive amount of garbage cans and trees, then Pongo found Perdita and told her, "Perdy, you can come now."

Perdita and Pongo then walked back to where they were before in order to wait for Lady and Tramp. Pongo sighed, "He's a poor chap, he just shouldn't have done that stuff. I just wish that they'd make up and move on."

Perdita sighed sadly, "I want to talk to Lady. She must be feeling horrible. Maybe I should comfort her and tell her that I have no interest in Tramp."

"That would help," Pongo sighed.

Meanwhile, Tramp was still on the search for Lady. He was looking for other dogs to ask if they had seen Lady. He saw a poodle with a cocky grin and a pink bow in her hair strutting by herself. "Miss… have you seen a small…"

"What? Am I supposed to be a servant to mongrels?" she squealed nastily. "For your information, I am Georgette, a show poodle earning ribbon after ribbon. I will blow all the competition away at this little place."

"Okay, okay," Tramp told her, smiling confidently. "I just wanted to know if you've seen a cocker spaniel with a blue collar."

"No, I have not! Get away!" Georgette squealed, and Tramp took off in the other direction.

Tramp then proceeded to find a fiery Chihuahua with a headband. "Hey, have you seen a…"

"Back off! Don't look down at me…" he growled at Tramp in a strong Mexican accent.

"Calm down, calm down," Tramp told him. "I just wanted to know where a cocker with…"

"Oh her, her," the Chihuahua answered. "She's gone somewhere over there," he answered, indicating across a bridge.

Tramp seized a sudden idea. "Thanks, mister."

"The name's Ignacio Alonzo…!" the Chihuahua began to say, but Tramp was not listening. He charged over the bridge, desperately hoping to find her.

And then, he finally heard a voice. A voice that was crying softly… Tramp's heart melted as he heard those cries, knowing exactly who they came from.

Tramp peered through some bushes, and he saw Lady sadly sprawled on the ground near a tree down the hill by the river. She had her front paw placed on the grass, and tears trickled down her cheek as she stared glumly at the grass.

Tramp slowly walked down the hill to Lady, and bent down to join her. "Hey Pigeon," he told Lady caressingly.

"Come to play with my heart again?"Lady asked in a soft, sensitive cry.

"Aww Pidge… you don't understand…", Tramp told her.

"I understand a lot better than you might think!" Lady told Tramp in between sniffs, but at the same time she spoke firmly and stood up. "I know about your past… I know what you did to Peg, and I don't blame Angel a bit for running away. I thought you were over it."

"But Pidge, I…" Tramp continued.

"I saw you talking with that girl back there," Lady told Tramp suspiciously. "That show poodle… she must look really pretty, doesn't she?"

"Well yeah," Tramp explained, but after seeing the look on Lady's face, he added, "Well, she does… but I'm not interested in her… not with her or Peg or Perdy."

"I… I…" Lady paused, before saying, "What do you have to say for yourself? About flirting with Perdita?"

"Okay, sorry Pidge," Tramp told Lady. "Just Perdy seemed somewhat down, so I just wanted to cheer her up, that's all. But I'm only serious with you, honest!"

"I don't believe you," Lady whispered softly to Tramp. "Why should I? You have played with everyone else's heart. I don't want you to play with mine anymore, either."

"Oh Pidge, of course I'm serious with you!" Tramp told Lady quickly. "I gave up my life filled with adventure and fun on the streets to be with you! And if I wasn't serious, why would I be out to help find our children?"

Lady didn't say anything for a bit, but looked into Tramp's eyes and told him, "You just want to get out. I should have seen this all along. You don't care about me at all. All you care about is your old life out on the streets. Why don't you just join up with Buster and then the two of you can have fun hurting as many others as you can…"

"Pidge, you know I'm not like that," Tramp told Lady. "You know I wouldn't do that."

"What do I really know about you?" Lady asked Tramp. "I don't know that much, do I? How am I supposed to know what you would or would not do?"

"Well Pidge, maybe you'll have to find out for yourself," Tramp told her. "But we should probably return to searching for our puppies. Aren't you out to help find them?"

Lady blinked a couple of times, before remembering why she was out at all. Looking at the ground, she slowly said, "You're right… that is why I am out. Well, for Scamp and Angel's sake, I will come back with you… and the quicker we find them, the quicker I can return home with them to Jim Dear and Darling. But don't think that I'm done keeping my eye out on you," Lady suspiciously told Tramp.

Tramp smiled at Lady in a small little way, and then told her gently, "Come on Pidge… follow me. Pongo and Perdita are over there somewhere, and then we'll all join up and find them together."

Lady nodded, and she decided to follow Tramp, leaving the puddle of her tears behind her. Pongo and Perdita were standing by, waiting for them. When Perdita saw Lady, she walked over to her.

"Lady, are you doing all right?" Perdita asked gently.

Lady sighed, and reluctantly told her, "I guess…"

"You really care about him, and I really admire just how much you care," Perdita told Lady. "And I think that Tramp really cares about you too. Don't worry about losing him to me," Perdita whispered to Lady. "I'm only interested in Pongo, and he's only interested in you."

Lady smiled at Perdita, and wished with all her heart that she was right.

Pongo told Lady, "Thank goodness you're back! Now let's get going and find our kids."

Lady smiled at Pongo. While still not completely trusting Tramp, Lady felt a sense of fulfillment that at least she was taking action to find her kids once again.


	12. Fenced In

DISCLAIMER: Lady and the Tramp, 101 Dalmatians, and their worlds belong to Disney.

Ch. 12- Fenced In

The parents passed through the maze of garbage cans and trees in the park, and eventually they returned to the road to search for their puppies.

"Oh, it's good to see you back," Pongo told Lady warmly, smiling at her. "You're a wonderful parent to have such determination."

Lady nodded and gently told him, "Thanks." Then she sighed, "We do need to find our children… and I want to be with Jim Dear and Darling again… and Junior… what if he's lonely? What will he do without me at home? I… I…"

"Aww, easy, Pidge, they'll do all right," Tramp told her gently, caressing her. Pongo and Perdita gave Tramp an approving nod.

"Do you know of any places where our children might be?" Pongo asked hopefully.

"Hmm… well, I know one good hideout is the junkyard…" Tramp told them.

Lady frowned. "We already checked there, remember?" Lady reminded him.

"Yeah, but it can't hurt to check there again," Tramp told them. "Where else do we have to look?"

They rushed over to the junkyard, which was still desolate and empty. When they went inside, Lady, Tramp, and Perdita went to look through the newly restored pile of junk. But Pongo decided to ignore the pile of junk and examine the rest of the yard. He scanned the perimeter as the others dug in the main pile, and then he noticed something.

"Perdy! Lady! Tramp!" Pongo shouted as he looked over at the corner. Perdita, Lady, and Tramp rushed over to him, and there, sitting on the side of the barrel, were two collars, one blue and one pink, both with bite marks on them.

"Oh my," Lady gasped, before declaring, "Scamp and Angel must have been here," Lady whispered softly. "I recognize those anywhere… oh, why did we not check the side of the barrel before?"

"Don't take it too hard, pidge," Tramp told Lady caressingly, rubbing against her.

"Oh, but they're in so much danger without collars… what if they're in the pound?" Lady asked, horrified.

Tramp, all of a sudden, looked excited. "Great idea, Pidge! Let's go check it out!"

"The pound? But it's dangerous there...we could get caught and then we'll never find them," Lady told Tramp concernedly.

"Yeah, but it's less dangerous than before," Tramp told them. "I've heard they rarely catch dogs with collars anymore, and they hired a new dogcatcher who doesn't know what he's doing. We can look without being caught, no problem."

"But what if the old one's still there?" Lady asked with horror in her voice.

"Aww Pidge, don't worry," Tramp told her. "Come on. Let's start building some memories."

"Remember when you told me that before?" Lady asked sadly. "And where did that get me?"

"Easy Pidge, I'll make sure we get out," Tramp told her. "And if we find Scamp and Angel, we'll get them out too."

"You really think they could be there?" Lady asked.

"Why else would we look in the pound? It's not exactly fun. Ready, everyone?" Tramp asked.

"Sure, they might just be there," Pongo replied.

"I just hope they're doing all right," Perdita told Pongo.

Tramp then looked at Lady, who reluctantly nodded, and together, the four of them set off to the pound. The pound was still very creepy with its ominous fences looming at its entrance, and parked outside of the pound was the dogcatcher's car, with two men sitting inside of it.

"Remember," came a cold, low, and firm voice. "This is a difficult task. We don't want to keep them locked in here, remember. But it's a job that must be done for the stability of the city."

"Aww, you take things too seriously," replied the other voice, in a much more silly, lighthearted, and immature way. "It's FUN to take 'em all in! Just go drive around in that funny vehicle and WHAM! Go catch' em!"

"Oh dear," Perdita sighed. "I don't understand…"

"Well, he thinks this is fun," Tramp stated. "Don't worry about him. He's just the new dogcatcher. Oh look! The pound is unlocked!"

And sure enough, the gate was not fully shut. Tramp then told Lady, "Look Pidge, I think you should go find the puppies."

Lady nodded. She knew that Scamp and Angel would not be receptive towards Tramp. But with memories of her last visit still haunting her, Lady replied, "But… I don't know if I could do it…"

Perdita saw Lady crying and instantly felt sorry for her fellow mother. She walked over and bent down so her head was next to Lady's, and said, "Lady, how would you feel about going in together? I'll look for my children with you. How does that sound?"

Lady smiled appreciatively at Perdita's offer, and suddenly, she felt a little braver. It was just enough for Lady, still trembling, to tell Perdita, "Okay then."

Pongo told them, "I'll divert the dogcatchers…"

Tramp added, "I will too. Let's start!" and at once, Tramp and Pongo started to run and bark under the dogcatcher's wagon.

"Oy!" the young dogcatcher declared, peering out the window. "It's… Aha! The one that got away!"

"Go through the creak in the fence at the right," Pongo recommended, Lady and Perdita nodded.

"He was adopted already, and they both have licenses," the older dogcatcher responded to his younger counterpart, but by that point, Lady and Perdita already entered the premises.

"This place… makes me so miserable…" Lady told Perdita as she entered. "I remember being here once… and…" her eyes welled up with tears of fear as she entered the hallway, "I'll never forget it."

Lady sat in the middle of the pound hallway, overcome with horrible memories. Perdita decided it would be best for Lady to rest for a little bit. "You said that one of your children looked like Tramp, and the other was blonde with tall ears?" Perdita asked.

Lady nodded, and Perdita decided to scan the cells. After a lap around the pound, Perdita shook her head. "I cannot find mine, or yours. Well, at least they're not locked up..."

"I'll look for mine, just to be sure," Lady told Perdita, still looking teary. "Please excuse me."

Lady examined the cells, but Scamp and Angel were not in any of them. Lady shook her head. "It doesn't look like they're here," she told Perdita sadly.

"Oy, it's Miss Park Avenue!" came a voice from one of the cells. "Look, she's back!"

Lady gasped, and she saw the familiar outline of Toughy in one of the cells, along with Bull, who also shared her cell back when she was in the pound. Along with them were four or so more dogs that Lady didn't recognize. Lady gasped. The last thing she wanted was to meet those pound dogs who made fun of her before. She stuttered to Perdita, "We…we should get out of here."

"Whatcha doing, Miss Park Avenue?" Bull asked.

"Never…never you mind," Lady sighed.

"Put fleas on the butler again, I'd expect," Toughy told Lady, and the two of them laughed.

"Please stop!" Perdita told them, as Lady was shivering in agitation. "Can't you see that she's sad?"

Bull and Toughy continued to laugh, but then Bull asked Lady, "Well, why are you here?"

"To look for our puppies," Lady told them sadly. "They ran away from home."

"May I ask, have you seen any spotted puppies or a grey scruffy puppy or a blonde one with tall ears?" Perdita asked.

"No, ma'am," Bull answered, but then Toughy answered, "Oh-ho! A blonde one with tall ears? Do you mean Angel?"

Lady nodded in surprise. Then she asked, "You mean… you know Angel?"

Toughy nodded. "Oh yeah, we all know her, don't we guys? She's Peg's girl."

Bull and Toughy seemed excited to tell a story and instantly became more friendly. "Sit down girls," Toughy told them.

Lady and Perdita did, and Bull started, "Angel was born here… a bit after the dogcatcher's wagon broke when the Tramp was saved."

"That was you, wasn't it?" Toughy asked. "That's what I heard."

Lady answered, "Yes… Tramp and I are married… I think."

"Yeah… so let's see," Toughy continued, before saying, "Oh yeah… Peg had to deal with the fact that the Tramp was taken. She was furious for a while, but she saw this fella, gee I forgot his name… he came in a bit after you did," he reminisced to Lady.

"Yeah, he thought Peg was a real cute baby," Bull added. "What was his name… I think it's, uh, Spunky or something."

Toughy nodded and told them, "Boy, he was a daring thing, and very crafty too. Second best pound escapee after the Tramp. He quickly met Peg, and they hit it off. They spent their time in the corner… then, Peg realized that she and Spunky were gonna have a puppy, and they plotted to escape and live on their own," Toughy explained. "Between Spunky's cleverness and bravery and Peg's stubborn streak, the two of them seemed like they had a real chance to get out. And then after a while they finally succeeded in digging a hole, and they ran away from the pound."

"Well, Spunky escaped. Peg tried to follow, but she got caught by the dogcatcher. A bit later, we got the buzz that Spunky got run over by a car," Bull explained. "Right after that, Peg gave birth to her little Angel."

"Peg raised Angel all by herself, she was a tiny little thing, but she was tough," Toughy explained. "She got her dad's talent… she had the knack of how to get outta those little jams, and she also had her mom's determination. She had to mature fast. She had no father and her mother was very depressed. But Angel cheered Peg up, and together they decided to dig a hole for all of us to get out."

"But before they could dig their way out, Angel got adopted by some fella," Bull added. "Peg was happy that Angel found a home, but she was sad about not seeing able to see her daughter anymore. She then got adopted herself and was sent off. Then one day early this summer, Peg returned. She told us she left her owner in New York to find Angel, but when she found her, she was with a bunch of shady characters in a junkyard. Peg tried to tell her that they were dangerous, but she got caught again."

"Oh yeah," Bull told her. "Peg was distraught, for now she learned that Angel's family threw her out…"

"You mean… Angel was abandoned?" Lady asked pitifully.

"Yeah," Toughy sighed. "Peg had the blues for days…but she kept on diggin', and then on Independence Day, after a long time of trying, she got out herself."

"But the night that she left, we were surprised…" Bull began.

"Let me tell it! Let me tell it!" came an insistent voice in their cell. "I saw it!"

"Okay, Chatty, we'll let you speak," Bull sighed exasperatedly. "But let Toughy and I set the stage," Bull requested. "We all were sleeping, but we woke up to commotion… there was a fight in the cell two away from ours," Bull explained.

"Yeah," Toughy added. "We were disoriented, but then we heard the dogcatcher after a few minutes, who then got knocked down… and we couldn't believe it…

"YOU'RE TAKING MY LINES!" Chatty complained. A little scrawny pound dog with bulging eyes walked up to them, and shouted, "Well, in that cell, right over there, this was this big vicious bloke named Reggie who scared all of us… I say it's a good thing he took the long walk because he scared us all to death! Anyway, this kid got trapped with him! AAK! He got bad luck! He got bad luck! But then… some other fellow came in and saved him! And they knocked down the dogcatcher, they knocked down the dogcatcher, a-ha-ha, it was so funny! I cheered them on during the whole…"

"Let me finish…" Bull yawned as Lady and Perdita looked confused. "Anyway, Reggie was unconscious and then outside… there was the Tramp, a kid who looked just like him, and…"

"Blimey, that must've been Angel herself," Bull finished.

"Yeah, that was a big excitement," Toughy told them. "Better than the one of the last escapee."

"Oh yeah! I saw him too! I saw him too!" Chatty exclaimed.

"Did he look like Tramp? Or did he have spots?" Perdita asked eagerly.

"Oh no. He was a big black and brown guy with short hair," Bull explained. "He just charged through the bars of that broken cell," Bull nodded towards a cell at the other end of the pound.

"Well, that's all really to say," Toughy yawned,

"Thank you," Perdita told them. But then suddenly…

"Hey look!" declared one of the other pound dogs.

And then suddenly, someone's head appeared through a hole in the cell.

"Blimey, it's the Tramp!" Bull declared happily.

"Hey guys," Tramp told them, climbing out and standing on top of the hole.

"What're you here for?" Toughy asked in surprise.

"I'm off to help find our puppies," Tramp told them. "And I wanted to make sure my wife," he nodded to Lady, "and my friend are safe."

Lady smiled as Tramp mentioned that she was his wife. He continued, "Thanks for telling Pidge and Perdy about Angel," Tramp told them. "I didn't hear much, but I'm sure it was very helpful."

"Wanna hear the story too?" Toughy asked hopefully.

Tramp shook his head. "No, I gotta get going. But hey, since I'm here, I can give you something you'd like, but on one condition," Tramp sternly told Bull and Toughy.

"What's that?" Bull asked.

"Don't ever make fun of Pigeon again," Tramp told them, looking at Bull and Toughy seriously. "Do you understand?"

"Okay," Toughy told him. Then he turned to Lady. "Sorry about that…" as Bull nodded.

"We shouldn't have acted like that," Bull added.

Lady smiled appreciatively. "Thank you for saying that," she told them.

Tramp then stood up and revealed the hole he got in through. "Well…here, you are! Just go through here, and you get your freedom!" Tramp cheerily told them. Toughy and Bull gasped, and the other pound dogs cheered.

"Wow, a hole!" Bull declared happily.

"Come on," Tramp told them, and Toughy and Bull, followed by the other pound dogs, squeezed through the hole.

"He's really nice, isn't he?" Perdita asked Lady gently.

Lady smiled slightly and nodded a little bit. He was nice, and not only for flirtatious reasons.

Perdita saw Lady's slight smile and felt happy for her. "Let's join up with Pongo and Tramp," Perdita suggested, and Lady followed her out of the pound.

The sun was beginning to set as they left the pound and the old dogcatcher was gone with his wagon. The young dogcatcher was slumped on the fence, dazed and unconscious. Tramp just escorted the escaped pound dogs away and rejoined Pongo, Perdita, and Lady.

"Any luck at all?" Pongo asked. Perdita shook her head.

"At least they're not inside that awful place," Lady told them. "But I don't know where else they could be…"

"Pidge, Angel's a street dog," Tramp told her confidently. "There's a whole great world out there, and they could be going anywhere. But we'll find them," Tramp told Lady. "And come on… think of the other places we haven't checked yet! They've got to be around somewhere."

Lady thought to herself, and she realized that Tramp's words, apart from being comforting, actually made some sense. She smiled at Tramp sincerely for the first time in a while, and then softly told him, "Maybe you're right after all."


	13. Garbage Cans and Ham Sandwiches

DISCLAIMER: Lady and the Tramp, 101 Dalmatians, and their worlds belong to Disney.

Ch. 13—Garbage Cans and Ham Sandwiches

Sitting in the back seat of Cruella's car, the puppies looked at each other in horror, all of them were at a loss for words. The car shook violently as it rattled down the street. But the puppies didn't even think about their discomfort as the horror of their situation dawned on them.

Patch broke the tense silence as he told Scamp and Angel, "Cruella is dangerous. She's a real blasted piece of work... I'd like to tear her gizzard out."

"Wow, you're allowed to say things like that?" Scamp asked, impressed. "My family would never allow that. It's so cool that you're able to say things like that and get away with it!"

"We weren't, trust me," Patch explained dourly. "My parents are strict on rules."

Patch thought he saw a flicker of disapproval in Penny's eyes. But the next second he knew he must have been imagining things, for Penny had just rushed up to him, rubbed against him a few times, and sighed, "Patch...I… I'm scared!"

"Me too Penny," Patch told her, and the two of them cuddled together nervously.

Lucky meanwhile was lying down, depressed. He grumbled, "We're not going to have fun. She has these two mean blokes, Horace and Jasper. They're mean and they don't let us watch TV."

"What's that?" Scamp asked curiously, hoping for a subject to take his mind off his situation.

"It's this box where you see things on," Penny answered indifferently.

"Wow, it sounds amazing!" Angel excitedly told them.

"It is, especially Thunderbolt the Wonder Dog!" Patch exclaimed. "It's the best show in the world! Every day Thunderbolt goes out and saves somebody. I memorized all the episodes and can tell you all about them! There's action and suspense and it's awesome!"

"Wow, we don't have anything like this!" Scamp told them.

"It must not have reached your family yet," Lucky told him. "We've had it for our whole life…until now."

"Well, our family is boring," Scamp grumbled. "Why would they have something cool like that in the first place?"

But while he asked that, the car halted. Penny, Patch, and Lucky froze, and stared at the front of the car with horror in their eyes. Scamp and Angel looked curiously at the front. Then the front car door opened. Cruella got out of the car and happily opened the back door. Cruella smiled indulgently at the puppies, but this didn't make her skeletal face look any less threatening. "Now, now, now, it's time to come out," she told the puppies with great relish in her voice, waggling her long gloved hand and beckoning them to come over. "Come puppies, come puppies… Mommy Cruella will treat you all right… come on…"

She continued to waggle her finger and smile at them as her heavy, odorous green smoke came wafting from her cigarette. The dalmatian puppies fled to the corner as far away as possible.

"Phew!" Scamp gasped, coughing. "She reeks…still, she smells better than that stupid flowery smell my sisters like," Scamp told them cheerfully. Penny, Patch, and Lucky looked exasperatedly at Scamp.

Then, Cruella grabbed Scamp and Angel harshly by their necks.

Angel gasped as she felt how hard this grasp was. She realized at once that this was grab was not the warm, loving grasp of a prospective owner, but the cold, threatening grasp of a seriously dangerous person. Meanwhile, the dalmatian puppies were still not within reach. They were scurrying in the car, desperate to avoid Cruella's grasp.

"You can't get away from me this time… just give up and come to me! Scotland Yard is here no longer, a-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!"

Cruella got on her hands and knees and crawled onto the back seats, continuing to clutch onto Scamp and Angel with one hand. With her other hand, she groped for the Dalmatians as they frantically tried to get away from her grasp. But Cruella's hand quickly caught up to them and before they knew it, all five puppies were in her grasp.

"Good, good, very good…" she smiled. "Now, up to your home sweet home."

With that, Cruella let out a shrill cackle. She got out of the car, and walked confidently up to a tall mansion. "I bought this place," Cruella told them proudly. "It's mine… and it should be just right for your transformation into beautiful furry coats."

"Furry coats?" Scamp asked, confused.

"She wants to skin us," Patch told him.

Scamp and Angel gasped in horror. Angel sighed, hung her head, and felt ashamed of getting them all in trouble.

"I'm sorry," she whispered to Scamp, "For getting us into this mess."

"Hey, don't mention it," Scamp told her, licking her in the face. "I didn't think that woman looked scary either. And... I still love you." Angel smiled, appreciated Scamp's kind words, and she felt a little better.

Cruella opened the door, and she walked into a large, old, dusty, battered entrance hall. She walked straight through it and arrived in a spacious, old living room. The walls were covered with faded red paint. The room had many pieces of moth eaten furniture, including two sofas, an armchair, and a couple of coffee tables. Sitting on the sofas were a slender, tall man and a short, squat man. The tall man had a glass of wine and eating a ham sandwich, and the short one was only eating a sandwich.

"Oh no!" Penny gasped, shivering. "It's…"

"Jasper! Horace!" Cruella screeched in her sharp, cold voice. At once, Horace and Jasper turned in their seats.

"Oh, what is it, Miss?" Horace asked.

"I told you I would do it!" Cruella cackled loudly. "The puppies are here, just like I said!"

"Blimey!" Jasper gasped, dropping his glass of wine. "I can recognize this one all right," he pointed toward Patch, who growled menacingly.

"And that's the one that blocked the TV!" Horace told Cruella, indicating Lucky.

"But what's with these two, eh?" Jasper asked, looking confusedly at Scamp and Angel. "They don't have spots… what are we supposed to do with…"

"Oh…make scarfs out of them or something!" Cruella declared impatiently. "Their coats are bound to be useful somehow. But don't put them in the coat. Since they don't have spots, they're worthless for that! But now we got three of those blasted puppies… ah, such lovely spots… and why, they'd make a lovely furry coat, a-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!"

She said her last sentence with an elegant tone of malice, and now all five puppies were shivering nervously as they strained to take in every word.

"When are we supposed to do it?" Horace asked.

"Tonight!" Cruella declared insistently, throwing the puppies onto the couch on top of Horace. Horace shouted in shock as the puppies landed and then jumped off of him, while Jasper cruelly laughed . Cruella ignored all of this however, and she lifted her arms up in excitement. "The job must be done tonight!"

"But how are we going to do it?" Horace asked.

Cruella shrieked, "You two numskulls don't remember anything! I already told you last time… kill the little beasts in any way you like. But don't mess up… do you understand! I've been stalking these puppies forever because I need my fur coat! I order you to spike the chow tonight! Do you understand!"

With that, Cruella left the room and slammed the door. She waved her green cigarette holder as she left, triumphantly cooing as she walked away, "Oh, it'll come, and when it does, why, this will be such a lovely fur coat."

"We're in trouble now," Penny moaned worriedly, looking at the ground and crying. "I don't know how we're going to get out… we can't."

"No, we can," Angel whispered to the others.

The other puppies looked at Angel in shock. "But how?" Lucky asked. "None of us knows how to get out… we got help last time."

"You seem to be forgetting," Angel told them proudly. "That I am an ex-street dog."

"So…" Patch asked.

"I can get us out of here, no problem," Angel explained, then she smiled at Scamp. "And Tenderfoot has, I believe, enough experience to help too."

"Sure!" Scamp told Angel excitedly, wagging his tail. "I'll go distract Horace and Jasper while you do you work."

"Where are we going?" Lucky asked. "I want to go to a place where we can watch television."

"Let's worry about getting out of here first," Patch told Lucky. "I want to watch Thunderbolt too, but we can see television later." Then he said, "I want to distract those filthy, rotten crooks with Scamp. I know exactly what to do! This is just like Episode 258 in Thunderbolt! When Thunder was locked in a room with a kid and a criminal, he made a lot of noise to distract the crook! Then the kid unlocked the door and they were free! So Scamp and I'll bark to distract them! "

"Good thinking," Angel told Patch. "Let's get started!"

Patch and Scamp crawled over to the television, which Lucky was still watching. Then, the two of them began to scurry in front of the television, jump on Horace and Jasper, and bark.

"Jasper?" Horace asked as Patch leapt on him. "How come they're barking?"

"Dunno Horace," Jasper told him. Then Scamp began barking in his ear. "Aw, shut up!" Jasper told him, throwing him onto the ground. "We're trying to watch What's My Crime!"

Scamp then proceeded to jump back onto the couch and started to tug on Jasper's sandwich.

"Oy! You nasty little runt! Leave my food alone!" Jasper shouted.

"You be quiet! I'm trying to watch the show, you're no better than those puppies!" Horace responded.

Meanwhile, Angel was carefully watching the commotion. Things were working out just perfectly, she thought. While Horace and Jasper weren't looking, Angel quietly pushed over a garbage can. She jumped onto it, and easily turned the door handle open with her paw as Penny watched her with fascination in her eyes. Incredibly, she hardly made a sound as she did her job.

"How did you do that?" Penny asked Angel as she smoothly jumped off her garbage can. Angel just smiled and winked at Penny. She felt much better, for now she no longer had anything to feel guilty about. Lucky, however, was still oblivious to the escape route and still watching television. Patch then saw that Angel opened the door, he hurried over to Lucky and whispered in amazement, "She did it…"

"Do I have to go yet?" Lucky asked. "The show's not over yet!"

"Yes, and hurry!" Patch whispered exasperatedly. With that, the puppies then approached the door. Angel filed out first with Scamp following, then Penny and Patch left, with Lucky reluctantly following. During all of this, Horace and Jasper were still watching TV and unaware of what was happening.

"Hee-hee-hee-hee!" Scamp cheered triumphantly. "We did it! You were awesome, Angel!"

"Thanks," Angel happily told Scamp. However, as the puppies continued to congratulate themselves on their escape, they suddenly found their path blocked. Looking up, they saw some green smoke and a long, yellow, furry coat.

"Trying to leave already?" Cruella asked, smiling tantalizingly. "I'm afraid you can't leave yet… you'll have to pay a price that will be your bodies," she smiled with a devilish grin


	14. Electric Dread

Hi thanks for reading! I hope you're enjoying my story so far =).

DISCLAIMER: Lady and the Tramp, 101 Dalmatians and their worlds belong to Disney.

Chapter 14—Electric Dread

Cruella stood in front of the puppies, smiling at them with a leer. "So," she told them threateningly. "Trying to get out already? It was very clever of you to leave that room. But this time, you won't get away. Not one of those blasted cops knows where I am! So you can't get away this time!" Cruella began to cackle in triumph.

But then, Patch nudged Scamp and whispered, "Hey… what about that hole in the wall?"

Scamp looked and saw a small hole in the wall. "Good idea!" Scamp whispered with a nod. "I'll go push it open!"

Scamp scampered ahead, and he instantly pressed the edge of the hole. The wall cracked slightly, widening the hole a bit, and now the hole was big enough for the puppies to slip through.

Meanwhile, Patch passed the message to the others, who nodded. Above, Cruella continued, "Don't leave! You'll serve a great purpose! You'll be part of my luscious, furry….what!"

Cruella looked down and realized the puppies were gone. She turned, and noticed the puppies escaping through the crack in the wall. "Grr… I knew I shouldn't have paid so much for this house," Cruella growled. But she then added, "Maybe it can still prove its worth."

The puppies squeezed through the hole and entered the grounds of Cruella's house. They immediately noticed that the front yard was vast with large, open grassy spaces, plenty of weeds, and a large fence encircling the yard.

"Where's the exit?" Lucky asked nervously.

"Over there," Angel answered, and she indicated a latch in the fence in the distance.

The puppies rushed over to the exit, but when they got there, they gasped. The fence was enormous!

"Woah," Scamp gasped, looking up at the towering fence. "I thought Jim Dear's was bad… now this!"

"We have to get out somehow though," Angel whispered.

"Here, let me try," Patch told them. "I have an idea! It's just like in Episode 244 when Thunder was trapped! He just broke through the fence! I'll take a running start and try to break a hole in this one!"

Scamp was still looking at the top of the fence. "This is one big fence," he told them, still in awe. "Let me see how strong it is," Scamp batted the fence, but then squealed, "Ouch!"

"What?" Penny asked, alarmed.

"The fence shocked me!" Scamp exclaimed in anguish, folding his paw down in agony.

"Patch, stop!" Penny squealed. But Patch didn't hear her, he was behind the house, and was taking a running start. There was nothing else for it. Penny ran straight toward Patch as fast as she could, and just before Patch ran into the fence, Penny blocked his way.

"Ow!" Patch shouted, slumping onto the floor. Then he looked up and saw why his path was blocked. "Penny, why did you do that?" Patch asked Penny.

"Patch, I just saved your life!" Penny told Patch, breathing exhaustedly.

Patch looked confused. "Why?" he asked.

"The fence is dangerous!" Angel told him.

Patch groaned, staring at the fence. He heard a small jolt of electricity and his ears drooped. "Of course… she would put up a killer fence."

Just then, Cruella walked outside. She surveyed the scene and looked simply delighted, lifting her arms up in the air. "Having fun trying to get out?" she asked, cackling energetically. "Oh, but it's not that easy," she exclaimed excitedly. "My beautiful fence is electrically powered so there is no way you can get out! And if you try, do you know what that means? It means you'll be ready to be part of my furry coat, a-ha-ha-ha-ha! Who'd like to be shocked first?"

Cruella continued to cackle as the puppies looked frantically at each other. "Thunder was not trapped in an electric fence," Patch told them sadly.

"I know how to get out," Lucky told them.

Penny and Patch looked at each other. "Really Lucky? How?" Penny asked hopefully.

"There has to be a power switch," Lucky exclaimed.

Patch gasped, "Lucky, it's a good thing you watch so much TV! Gosh, you're right!"

Scamp and Angel looked confused, and Patch explained, "Electric things turn on and off with a switch. So there must be a switch…"

"That can turn off the fence!" Lucky excitedly finished.

"So, who would like to turn off the fence?" Penny asked, looking above. "It looks like a safe time to try if you ask me," Penny told them, looking back at Cruella. She was still rambling on happily, and seemed to be waiting for the puppies to run into the fence again.

Scamp answered, "I'll do it! I've always wanted to break through a fence!"

The other puppies nodded. Then Angel told him, "Hey Scamp, I found the switch." She indicated a red button that was near the center of the fence.

"Well, let's try it," Patch told them, and Scamp nodded.

"Good luck!" Penny told him. "And do be careful!"

"I will," Scamp told Penny. Then he took a deep breath, and then ran to the right, back to the house…

"Where are you going!" Cruella screeched. "Come back! I'm warning you now. Come back!"

Scamp ignored Cruella, and turned and ran back to the fence. He then made a big jump and lunged at the red button… he hit the grey box where the switch was, but missed the button and fell on his back onto the floor.

"Ow… that hurt," Scamp groaned.

"Are you okay Tenderfoot?" Angel asked him hurriedly.

"I'm fine Angel," Scamp told her. "I'll get it next time," he told her brightly. But just when he prepared to try again, Cruella arrived and leered at the puppies. She smiled and blocked the red button. The puppies began to whimper.

"Oh, you want to touch that red button!" Cruella sneered threateningly. "Do you want some help?"

"No!" Angel squealed to Scamp. "Stop her, Scamp!"

But Cruella pushed the red button, and the fence began to make a buzzing noise. "All this button does is increase the fence's electrical power," Cruella told them smugly. Then she began to cackle in triumph. "You fools! The only button that will turn the fence off is in my bedroom! Now stop resisting, you're causing a lot of problems! Get in or else!" Cruella demanded.

The puppies did not move, instead, Cruella faced glares that were remarkably intimidating from five little puppies. "Very well, I'll take care of them out here," she smirked. Cruella went inside of the house, and left the five puppies waiting.

"Scamp, you really helped," Angel told Scamp admiringly.

"Did I?" Scamp asked, amazed.

"Didn't you hear Cruella?" Angel smirked. "She let slip exactly where that switch is."

In a few seconds, Cruella returned from the house. She was carrying out five food bowls, each of them was filled with dog treats. She put them on the front step of the house. "Here puppies… here puppies… think of the craving that you have! All those hours without a bite to eat! I've got your favorite, Kanine Krunchies, in here! And all you need to do is just get inside, and you'll feel the wonderful taste of fresh treats in your mouths! How does that sound?"

"The food's poisoned…" Patch whispered. "Remember how she said "spike" the food?"

"Oh yeah," Penny told them, remembering. "Let's not eat."

"Why did you have to take the ham sandwich?" Lucky complained to Scamp. He began to lie down and his stomach began rumbling fiercely. "I'm hungry, I want some food!"

Despite the fact that all the puppies besides Scamp have not eaten since they met Cruella, they resisted the temptation and none of the puppies moved to their bowls. Soon Cruella began to realize that the puppies would not cooperate. So she threw up her hands in outrage and screamed, "Get inside or I'll kill you all this instant with my bare hands!"

The puppies looked at each other, but they could all see that they didn't have a choice. Reluctantly, the puppies slowly trudged back inside the house. "Good, good!" she exclaimed. She then grabbed the puppies again and re-opened the living room door. Horace and Jasper evidently did not realize anything happened yet, as the garbage can was still tipped over and they were still watching TV. Cruella then rushed over to Jasper and Horace, as they continued to watch television.

"Jasper! Horace!" Cruella screeched as she entered the room.

They turned to see her angrily walking over to them. "What is it now, Miss?" Jasper asked exasperatedly.

"We're watching The Jailed Cops Show!" Horace whined.

"You blundering idiots! The puppies nearly escaped from your watch!" Cruella shouted, turning off the TV while continuing to hold onto the squirming puppies.

"Blimey!" Jasper gasped. "But how?"

"They knocked down that garbage can to get out, you idiots!" Cruella shouted. "And kill them all as soon as I get my weapon in the mail! Including the ones that aren't spotted! Their coats could be useful too!"

"All right, Ma'am, all right," Horace yawned. "We'll take care of 'em soon."

"Very well," Cruella added. Then she growled, "These puppies are too much work for you idiots. I'd say make it easy and lock them up. Hold onto those mongrels while I get the cage."

Horace and Jasper dutifully restrained the puppies and sure enough, Cruella came back with a large, metal cage. "Put them in here!" she ordered. "And lock it tightly, do you understand! Put it upstairs in the small bedroom. And lock the door!" she exclaimed.

"Okay, Ma'am," Jasper replied, and then he lifted the cage up the stairs, rattling the puppies in it carelessly. He opened up the door, and told them, "There you go. Have fun waiting! The skinning will be coming soon! And I'll make a bundle!" And then he shut the door again, laughing.

"Well, you know what we have to do next," Patch whispered.

The others gulped. They all knew what they would have to do next, but not one of them wanted to talk about it. It would be a task too close to Cruella for comfort.


	15. The Other Puppies and Their Owners

DISCLAIMER: Lady and the Tramp, 101 Dalmatians, and their worlds belong to Disney.

Chapter 15—The Other Puppies and Their Owners

"No fair!" cried the three puppies.

Annette, Danielle, and Collette were looking into their large food bowl, but rather than eating, the three sisters were crying into it. Tears were flooding in the crevice where the food was gone.

"We did really badly, didn't we," Annette sniffed as a tear rolled down her cheek.

"Oh, it's all the fault of that stupid Georgette," Collette cried. "How come she had to come in and win the show?"

"Perfect isn't easy she says, well, she should know just when to be quiet," Annette sniveled with Colette and Danielle vigorously nodding.

Jock and Trusty stood over the sisters, and looked at each other sadly. They were trying to console the sisters for the past hour to no avail. Jock sighed, "Ay, lassies, these shows are difficult. I only earned my ribbons after a lot of losses."

"That's right," Trusty added. "And don't worry yourselves little ladies, for you'll always be loved by your family."

"But still," Collette sighed. "We've been looking forward to this so much! And all that work… all that preparation we've gone through..."

"Lassie," Jock told them. "These things are always difficult."

"But you'll get through, don't worry," Trusty added. "And not everybody enters these shows. Your mother hasn't entered a show in her whole life."

"Yes, well, she doesn't want to," Annette told Trusty dourly. Clearing her throat, she declared, "I still don't really understand why she and Dad are still gone. How could they be neglecting us?"

"They're out on serious business, lassie," Jock told them. "You'll never know what those wee little pups are up to."

"Scamp and Angel are probably just pulling a prank on them," Collette yawned. "They've probably just gone into a neighbor's backyard and are just hiding there."

"Wow, they're amazing," Danielle told Annette and Collette. "To be gone this long without being caught!"

"Amazingly stupid, you mean," Annette sniveled.

"Well I think they're pretty bold for doing that!" Danielle told them. "They spent all this time talking about their stories but I never thought they'd do that! It's inspiring!"

Annette and Collette stared at Danielle, as though they weren't seeing her properly. So did Jock and Trusty. "You are joking, aren't you Danielle?" Collette asked after an awkward pause.

"Well, yeah, I guess," Danielle answered simply. "They'll probably find themselves locked up in that pound."

"It's really selfish of them," Collette sniveled. "I bet they did this just so that they'd miss our show."

"They're probably laughing all about the mess they created," Annette added. "Serves them right to be locked up."

The sisters began to laugh as Jock and Trusty looked concernedly at each other. "Lassies…" Jock told them. "They could be in serious trouble."

The sisters stopped laughing. "You don't really think… they could be in trouble, do you?" Annette asked, slightly worried.

"Why would they be?" Collette asked.

"It can be dangerous, little ones," Trusty told them. "There are dogcatchers, streetdog gangs, murderers…the world can be very dangerous out there."

"Don't worry about 'em!" Danielle told them optimistically. "They're probably just having fun somewhere."

"Jock," Trusty told him. "We should search ourselves to see if we can see them anywhere nearby."

"Ay," Jock agreed, nodding. "We'll be back soon."

And with that, Jock and Trusty ran off and began scanning the park. Nothing happened for a few minutes, and the three sisters began to realize in the absence of their parents and Jock and Trusty just how serious everyone was taking the loss of Scamp and Angel.

"I don't know, Jock and Trusty really seem concerned," Collette told her sisters worriedly. "They've been gone for a while."

"Should we go… look for them ourselves?" Annette asked twenty minutes after Jock and Trusty began their search. "Just to make sure?"

But before Collette or Danielle could answer her question, Danielle gasped. A small, blonde dog walked up to them with a glamorous strut. She gave them a small smile and told them, "Hiya girls…"

"Woah!" Danielle gasped. The sisters thought she was very pretty.

"Why, I bet you could've won the dog show!" Annette cooed, smiling.

"Well thank you dearie," the blonde told her, flattered, batting her hair. "Maybe I should've entered myself…I was a showgirl once…"

"Next time enter that show and beat that Georgette for us!" Collette told her.

The blonde smiled at them and replied, "Thank ya dearie."

"What's your name?" Danielle asked her. She vaguely recognized the blonde from somewhere before.

"My name's Peg," the blonde told them gently."Can ya help me out dearies?"

"Sure!" Annette told her enthusiastically.

"Have ya seen a car with the license plate 002BADUN?" Peg asked.

The girls shook their heads dejectedly. "I understand," Peg told the sisters, and then she tried again, "By the way, do you know where the Tramp is?"

"The Tramp?" Annette asked. "You mean our Daddy?"

"That's right," Peg grinned at them.

"Nope," Danielle answered simply. "He left home."

"He ran off with Mommy," Collette explained. "To find our brother Scamp and his girlfriend Angel… they ran away due to some personal problems."

"Personal problems?" Peg asked. Danielle gasped. Suddenly, she recognized her as the flirtatious ex-girlfriend of her daddy's!

"Yeah," Collette explained. "Supposedly it had something to do with Angel's mother coming and trying to steal Daddy from Mommy. But don't believe that though. They're just making up excuses to run away, they've wanted to get away from their superior sisters for days! Those two are just troublemaking rebels who don't care about anything but their own desires…"

"Oh, I hope they went off and got into a whole lot of trouble!" Danielle declared.

"Serves 'em right!" Annette added, and the sisters laughed.

Peg however, glowered at them. "Don't you talk about Angel like that," she fumed, and then she stalked off.

"What was that about?" Collette gasped.

"Oh yeah," Danielle told them. "That was the woman who was flirting with Daddy… I forgot to say."

Colette rounded on her. "Why didn't you tell us!"

"I forgot," Danielle told them simply. Annette and Colette rolled their eyes.

"That means she's Angel's mother," Collette muttered.

"Poor Mommy…" Annette sighed. "I bet you she's going out to try to break them apart again."

The girl puppies sighed as they watched the blonde trotting away, thoroughly embarrassed. "Well, she's not that pretty," Annette blurted and the other two nodded. "She and Angel are less pretty than us, anyway. Should've figured it out, they look just like each other."

Just then, Jock and Trusty rounded the corner. The sisters rushed up to them. "Uncle Jock! Uncle Trusty! Did you find them!"

"No," Trusty told them. "But with Old Reliable's keen sense of smell, we'll round them up soon."

Then, suddenly, the sisters turned. A skinny blonde man with a skinny red-haired wife were sitting down at the table with Roger and Anita. Leashed up were two small spotted puppies. One of them was very fat and sluggish, the other was small, slender, and hyper.

"Ooh, we have visitors!" Collette gasped. Then the sisters rushed up to the two puppies.

"Rolly, you cannot eat!" the skinny puppy told him. "That would be called stealing, remember?"

The fat puppy, who the sisters assumed to be Rolly, went up to their bowl, looked up at them pleadingly and asked, "May I eat?"

"Uh…" Collette began, but he began to eat anyway. The puppy ate through the entire bowl quickly. Annette and Colette gasped, speechless.

"How did you eat so much!" Danielle asked in amazement.

With a smile, he answered, "It's nothing. I love to eat!" He licked his lips and sighed, "Aw… thanks for the appetizer."

"His name's Rolly!" the skinny puppy told the sisters. "And mine's Cadpig! You girls look like you're feeling down!"

"Yes, we are," Annette sighed. "We just lost the show."

"Aww, that's sad," Cadpig told her. "But some positive self talk will always cheer you up!"

"Is there anything else to eat?" Rolly asked.

"Uh," Annette, Danielle, and Collette sighed, looking at each other. However, they couldn't remove Rolly from the area, as their pets began to get friendly with each other.

"This is our puppies' first show," Darling told the dalmatians' owners, Roger and Anita.

"Same for us," Roger explained. "We normally don't come here, but we thought it was the perfect chance to take a journey across the sea."

"Unfortunately," Jim Dear added sadly, "We've lost our parent dogs, Lady and Tramp… they've run away. We think they ran away after our two rebellious puppies, Scamp and Angel."

"Funny how things work," Roger muttered.

"What do you mean Roger?" Darling asked.

"Well, our parent dogs, Pongo and Perdita, have run away too, after three of our puppies, Patch, Penny, and Lucky," Roger explained. "They've run away before when our puppies were lost, and came back with all of them safe and sound."

"I sure hope Lady and Tramp are gone for that reason," Darling told Anita. "My condolences to you for your losses."

"Same with you," Anita told Darling. They looked into each others' eyes, and at once, they began to feel an old feeling that they couldn't quite place.

Down below, Annette, Danielle, and Collette looked stunned at Rolly and Cadpig, who looked just as stunned at them. There was silence for a bit, before Rolly told them, "It seems as though you live in the same family as we do."

"What a coincidence!" Danielle declared.

"I'm sure they'll come back," Roger told the other humans confidently. "Pongo and Perdita will always come."

"I hope that they'll come back with our darling puppies," Anita told them.

"Do you think… we should look together?" Jim Dear asked.

"What a great idea," Roger told them. "It certainly can't hurt!"

"I just know Lady wouldn't run away on purpose," Darling told them sadly. "She's a good girl, and…" she began to cry. "I miss her so much. I feel guilty about spanking her once."

"There, there," Anita consoled her. "We all know what it's like, don't we?" She cleared her throat before she told them, "Let's begin our search."

"Good idea," Jim Dear answered. "We could call the police officers and maybe they'll be able to have better luck than us."

And the four owners nodded, wanting more than anything for their loveable canine families to return to them.


	16. Saved By Love

DISCLAIMER: Lady and the Tramp, 101 Dalmatians, and their worlds belong to Disney.

Chapter 16—Saved By Love

As the parents left the premises of the pound, Lady still was thinking of the astonishing story that Toughy and Bull told her about Angel and her past. Lady could not believe that Angel, who seemed so cheerful and carefree before she ran away, had such a traumatic past. She told Tramp and Pongo the sad story of how Angel had to grow up in the pound, how Angel was thrown out of homes and that she joined a street gang to srive, and how Angel was unable to see her mother for months.

"Poor girl," Tramp told Lady when she finished. "She had a lot of bad luck, even for street dogs."

"I had no idea she had a life like that," Lady sighed sadly. "It only makes me feel more worried for her. You do think… that she's safe?"

"Come on Pidge, she and Scamp are just fine," Tramp comforted her. "Hey… maybe…" Tramp began to smile, and declared, "Follow me," and he walked in the sunset's glow on a path that was all too familiar, with chicken coops and all.

"Hey, what are those things?" Pongo asked.

"They're chicken coops," Tramp explained. "They're fun!" Lady looked at Tramp fearfully. Then, Tramp remembered what happened with their last chicken coop experience. He then added, "But they're also pretty dangerous. We'd be better off to avoid them."

Lady gently smiled at Tramp. She appreciated that Tramp was kind enough to spare her from another experience with the chicken coops. Perhaps he had learned some lessons from their last time out after all. Lady hopefully entertained that thought in her mind as they rounded a corner, but then suddenly, Lady heard some rustling nearby.

Lady turned, and then she heard a voice say, "Aha, there you are!" This voice had an Italian accent and sounded cruel and vaguely familiar to Lady. Tramp looked thoroughly annoyed.

Coming out from the bushes was a big, short-haired black and brown dog. His build was sturdy and muscular and his eyes were dark and small and Lady instantly saw pools of hatred in them, which matched with a devilish look on his face. "Well, well, here you are, Tramp, along with your pretty little girl and a couple of spotted fools," he smirked. "And what brings you out here, housedogs?"

"Who are you?" Lady asked fearfully. But she thought she already knew, for she had seen him in her dream.

"Looks like he wouldn't even talk about me to you," the dog told Tramp. "Not that you, the queen of the kennel club set, would need to know. My name's Buster, and I'm the leader of the junkyard dogs, the toughest gang in town!"

"I heard… about you," Lady muttered sadly. "You... you…hurt my son!"

Buster ignored Lady and then barked, "Anyways, none of you answered my question! What are you doing?" Buster demanded.

"Looking for our puppies," Perdita told him boldly. "We must find them."

Buster devilishly smirked at the parents. "It's useless for you to try," he growled.

"Why?" Pongo asked.

Buster continued to smirk and maliciously told them, "You don't need to look! They're all part of my gang! Scampster, Angel-Cakes, Patchy, and those other two!"

"So where are they?" Pongo asked boldly, but he couldn't help but to feel a bit nervous. "How come they're not with you?"

"They're in the junkyard," Buster replied with malicious amusement, delighting in the worried atmosphere. He paced back and forth in front of the parents, taking in their frightened expressions. "So don't bother looking for them. I told them that if they see you again, they should turn you straight into kibble. And of course they'd do it. They all hate you that much."

"Oh Pongo," Perdita gasped. "They couldn't…"

Then Pongo seized a sudden idea. "Of course they didn't join your gang," Pongo told Buster dismissively.

"And why would you say that?" Buster smirked, leering at them.

"Because we went to the junkyard ourselves and they weren't there," Pongo told Buster.

"And besides," Tramp told him, "Pidge and I know my son wouldn't make the same mistake twice."

Buster turned to them in outrage. "So, you figured it out," Buster growled. "Like I would want those little traitorous brats anyway… they sent me to the pound, and I had to break through the fence in order to leave. I could get out any day, but it was so humiliating to be locked up because of some kids! They're gonna pay!"

"So… where are they?" Lady worriedly asked Buster.

"Like little cushy-life girl should know," Buster answered viciously. "You're starting to annoy me."

Buster, meanwhile, pawed at the ground. "But you always have," he told Lady, growling. "You caused Tramp to betray me with your looks."

"Buster, you never understood," Tramp told him. "I wasn't part of your gang! I never, ever was a junkyard dog. You're just wrong on this. When we met, I helped you survive. It looked like you were struggling to live on your own on the streets, and I've helped others who needed help too."

"So, is that what you say?" Buster replied. "You're lying to me, just as you always do."

"No, Buster, I never was part of your gang. Some of your, uh, cohorts might have thought such, but I expect that you would know the truth." Tramp told him firmly.

"You're a liar," Buster growled simply. "You betray everyone. Everyone knows that." He noticed a fearful look in Lady's eyes, and knew he struck gold in terms of finding a way to hurt her.

"You have it all wrong," Tramp told Buster. "I haven't betrayed you at all because I don't have anything to betray. You really misunderstood."

"We'll see about that," Buster growled. "But first, let me… take care of your prissy girl.."

Buster glared at Lady, and then all of a sudden, he lunged at her. Lady gasped, "Why are you doing this?", and she lifted a paw off the ground in shock.

"You caused him to betray me!" Buster roared angrily at Lady, lifting his head down so his face was right next to hers. "And it's all your prissy little fault!"

Lady's eyes began to widen with fear, and hurriedly, she tore off to her left, and Buster chased after her. Pongo hurriedly told Perdita and Tramp, "We better send the alert!"

"No, you can leave it to me," Tramp answered firmly. "I'll stop him from hurting my girl!"

Pongo and Perdita smiled at each other, realizing the opportunity for Tramp to prove his love to Lady. Not wanting to take this opportunity away, Pongo and Perdita nodded. "Maybe he's right," Pongo told Perdita, who nodded, and Pongo and Perdita fearfully watched Tramp bounding away from them.

"Let's get close so we can see what's going on," Perdita suggested. "And...I have an idea if there's trouble."

Far ahead, Lady was running as fast as she could. She was out of breath, but she continued to hear Buster's ragged breath behind her. She tore down a hill and had no idea where she was going, but she soon found herself trapped by a brick wall. She looked behind her, and Buster was slowly advancing to her, savoring every moment. There was no way out. She couldn't jump over the wall, for it was far too tall, and there was nothing there to protect her.

Buster then told Lady, "Beauty-ful! Did ya really think you'd get away from me?"

Lady was silent. Fear overcame her as she shivered and looked into Buster's cruel eyes.

"Or that you'd get saved? Your so-called husband doesn't care about anyone," Buster told Lady menacingly. "Have ya heard of his past? He still has some girls after him, and I bet ya he just left the house to join up with them."

Lady was silent with fear, and didn't say anything to Buster. She didn't want him to harp upon her insecurities. Unfortunately, Buster seemed to read her mind.

"Let's stop your pain and get this over with," Buster told Lady viciously. With a devilish leer on his face, he growled at Lady, "Good bye, little Miss Powderpuff…" and then he prepared to swipe at her.

"Oh no you don't," came a voice behind them. Buster turned, and hurriedly, Tramp raced forward. He took a huge leap and hurled himself in front of Buster. He glared at Buster, "You're not gonna hurt my girl, my one and only love!" Then he leered at Buster for some time.

Then from the distance, came two loud howls. Buster froze in fear. "A wolf," he muttered. Buster looked at Tramp, weighed his options, saw there was no way to get to Lady, so he backed down. "I'll leave ya alone… for now," Buster told Lady and Tramp viciously. "But don't think you've seen the last of me. Once I kill your kids, you'll be kibble."

And with that, Buster retreated, and Lady breathed a sigh of relief. She was amazed with the lengths that Tramp was willing to go to save her. "Thank you," Lady told Tramp with admiration in her voice.

"Any time," Tramp told Lady. "And you are my girl," he told Lady affectionately.

"Oh Tramp," Lady cooed. She smiled slightly as she emerged out of her corner and she couldn't help but feel grateful toward Tramp for saving her life.

Just then Pongo and Perdita raced down the hill in relief. "Are you all right?" Perdita asked.

Tramp nodded. "I saved Pidge," he explained simply, and Lady nodded appreciatively. Then he asked Pongo and Perdita, "Did you two send off those howls?"

Pongo and Perdita nodded. "We thought it might help," Pongo told Tramp.

"It sure did, you had Buster fooled. He thought you were wolves!" Tramp told them brightly, and the parents gently laughed in relief for a few moments.

Then Lady turned to Tramp and told him, "Maybe our puppies went somewhere a bit closer to home. It seems as though we've gone a bit too far in that chase, don't you think?"

"You're right," Tramp told Lady. "Come on… let's check out…"

But they paused. They checked everywhere, and everywhere they went they hit a roadblock. There was nowhere new to check out. There was only so far a group of little puppies could've gone too on foot, yet they checked everywhere that was nearby home without success. "What should we do?" Lady asked softly.

Pongo, Perdita, and Tramp remained silent. Then, Tramp cleared his throat, and told them, "Come on. Follow me up the hill."

Lady, Pongo, and Perdita looked at each other, and knew that Tramp was thinking of something. The sun began to set and the parents became increasingly tired, but they continued to valiantly search for the puppies as they climbed up the steep hill. When they got up to the top, they found a nice, beautiful path. Tramp smiled happily, and told them, "Follow me."

Lady, Pongo and Perdita looked at each other, and then followed in Tramp's wake. Darkness was following them, and only until it was truly dark outside with the moon giving a brilliant glow did Lady finally realize what Tramp was up to.


	17. Dinner in the Moonlight

DISCLAIMER: Lady and the Tramp, 101 Dalmatians, and their worlds belong to Disney.

Chapter 17- Dinner in the Moonlight

Lady, Pongo, and Perdita followed Tramp on the path on top of the hill.

"Do you see our puppies on your side?" Pongo asked Perdita, who shook her head in disappointment.

The parents continued to look for their puppies while crossing a bridge over a peaceful river which had lily pads resting lazily at the surface and swans skimming across the gently moving water. This led to another path which had luscious green grass on either side of it. Lady couldn't help feeling a bit at peace with the relaxed atmosphere surrounding her. However, she still felt nervous about her puppies. "They couldn't have gotten this far away, could they?" she asked nervously.

"I don't know Lady, I don't know," Pongo answered.

"Don't worry, we'll find them," Tramp told Lady confidently as they turned a corner on a sidewalk path with a fountain on it.

Lady, seeing the fountain, gasped. Looking down on the sidewalk she was on, she saw a familiar heart with the names "JM and EB" in it, and she also two paw prints in it, with several more paw prints off to the side.

Lady stood next to the heart, and began to stare at it. Memories began to flood through her as she stared at the heart, and she placed her paw into the little pawprint in the heart, which fit her paw perfectly.

Pongo and Perdita noticed something was up. "What is it?" Pongo asked.

"This… this is where Tramp and I had our first date," Lady whispered quietly. "Those are our pawprints."

"Oh, how sweet," Perdita told her affectionately. "This place must bring back plenty of memories, doesn't it?"

Lady nodded slowly. Tramp pretended to ignore Lady and Perdita's conversation, and asked, "Hey, are you coming?"

The four of them walked through sidewalks of a couple of streets. Lady, Pongo, and Perdita looked carefully inside each of the windows, but Tramp seemed to have another intention on his mind as he forged ahead and only briefly looked in the windows.

"Are there… any of our puppies in those windows?" Perdita asked.

"Hey, let's go on," Tramp told her firmly.

"But…" Pongo gasped confusedly. Perdita, however, nodded. She then bent down to whisper something in Pongo's ear. Pongo's eyes widened and then he nodded too. Pongo and Perdita followed Tramp, and Lady reluctantly followed. And after a little while, the four of them got to a part of town that was almost familiar to Lady.

Tramp winked at Lady and excitedly asked, "Remember this place, Pidge?" he asked.

Lady gasped. There was a familiar sound of accordions and guitars. "Tramp, we can't! We have puppies to look for… and… we must get back…"

"Lady, I hate to say it, but I'm getting hungry myself," Pongo told Lady.

"I have to say the same," Perdita added, playing along.

"But… our puppies!" Lady cried. "Who will…"

"Relax," Tramp told her. "We can always look better on a full stomach."

"No, we've got to get going and look," Lady told Tramp firmly.

"Well, if you wish," Tramp told her. But as they walked on, Lady, having not eaten in a couple days, couldn't resist the smell of steaming spaghetti and meatballs.

"Oh, all right," Lady reluctantly muttered. "I guess you talked me into it." Tramp looked delighted, and he told Pongo and Perdita, "I know just the place for us to eat at!"

"But how are we supposed to pay?" Perdita asked.

"We don't need to," Tramp explained. "They'll serve us for free."

"Well, I suppose we can't refuse his offer," Pongo told Perdita, who nodded.

Tramp slowly strutted his way down the street, and then, saw a familiar sign saying, "Tony's Restaurant."

"Shh… let's go in," Tramp whispered. "Pidge, stick by me," Tramp told her.

Lady saw the familiar path behind the crates and then looked up to find the familiar empty clearing with the clotheslines hanging high above her head. But before she could say anything to Tramp, Lady saw a familiar, round, Italian waiter. He was looking into a barrel right outside of his kitchen, but as he turned back in, he caught sight of Lady and Tramp.

"Hey Joe!" Tony exclaimed, opening the gate into the kitchen. "Look! It's a Butch and his sweet kiddo!"

"Oh!" Joe told Tony from the kitchen. "What'cha say, Tony?"

"The Butch and his girl have gone back to Tony's," Tony told them proudly. Then he bent down to Tramp and whispered, "Ah, it seems as though you finally found a girl who you settled down with, isn't that right, Butchy?"

Tramp nodded, panted excitedly and wagged his tail. Lady looked up at Tramp, smiling with disbelief, and Tramp winked. Tony clapped his hands and continued, "We will have to cook up more spaghetti. Joe!"

"Tony, not another spaghetti dish for dogs!" Joe cried.

"I'm the boss, remember," Tony told Joe. "And you're right. We don't have one dish, we have two dishes to make!" Tony declared. Joe dropped a plate in surprise. "We have another couple to serve," Tony declared, as suddenly, Pongo and Perdita appeared around the corner, looking at each other adoringly.

"Hey!" Tony told them, and he instantly rushed out to join Pongo and Perdita, who happily nuzzled against him. "You two lovebirds have come to the right place. You would like some spaghetti to dine on, no?"

Pongo and Perdita barked cheerfully, and the two of them soon began to rub against each other affectionately.

"What a beautiful night, isn't it?" Tony asked Joe, who nodded.

Tony and Joe went back into the kitchen. The sizzling smell of spaghetti soon wafted through the kitchen, and Tony and Joe emerged after a little while with two tables with checkered tablecloth. Pongo and Perdita took one table. This left Lady with Tramp.

"Wanna sit down, Pidge?" Tramp asked Lady gently. Lady nodded slowly.

Tony then came out with two bowls of spaghetti and placed one bowl in front of each couple. "Now here you are! The best spaghetti in town! Enjoy your dinner," Tony exclaimed. He and Joe come out with their accordion and ukulele, and began to sing Bella Notte once again. Lady couldn't help but to smile as she looked into Tramp's, warm, velvety eyes. She saw the same passion and sincerity in them that she saw on their first date, and then she remembered the same feelings of warmth that she felt once upon a time. When Tony and Joe finished, they walked back into the kitchen to watch the couples finish their spaghetti. While they finished their bowl, Lady was even happier as she saw Perdita happily eat with Pongo out of the corner of her eye and she was also pleased that Tramp remained happily looking into her eyes the whole time.

Following the spaghetti, both couples went to sleep on the stone outside of Tony's. Lady looked up at the moon, and then down at Tramp, who was sleeping a few yards away. Pongo and Perdita happily yawned together, but Lady couldn't sleep. She sat up, continuing to look at the moon. Then Lady looked at Tramp, who she knew was just pretending to sleep. Smiling to herself, she realized that perhaps he just had too much pent-up energy after all.

Lady then decided to walk up to Tramp, and at once, Tramp opened his eyes. She smiled at Tramp and whispered to him, "I'm so sorry for not trusting you… I have been too worried about you… why would you ever leave me?"

Tramp smiled gently and the two of them affectionately rubbed against each other. Pongo and Perdita meanwhile, woke up and beamed at Lady and Tramp. "Pidge, we're a couple now," Tramp reminded her. "Just… well you know, I haven't enough time to be a tramp. And I wouldn't ever wanna be with anyone else when I could have you."

Lady smiled broadly. He was saying exactly what she wanted to hear. "I… I… don't understand why I acted like that," Lady whispered.

"That's okay," Tramp told Lady. "And I suppose… I was being a bit too flirty."

"Tramp, I love you," Lady told him, and she gently rubbed against him. But before he could reply, Peg came rushing in to Tony's. She looked thoroughly frazzled and out of breath.

"Hiya Tramp, there you are," she coolly said. "I've been looking all over for ya."

"You!" Lady told Peg, alarmed.

Peg smiled and ignored Lady. "Wanna take a walk with me? We can go out…" she began, batting her hair.

"Peg, I'm Lady's husband now," Tramp told her firmly. "What I'm saying is final. Lady and I are in love, and that's that." Lady looked delightedly at Tramp and warm, glorious relief began to gush through her heart.

"Yes," Peg drawled. "But I still want you, baby…you're still my love, and I know ya really want me."

Then Lady walked up to Peg and told her gently but firmly, "I thought you would understand… don't you remember how you felt toward your husband? Tramp and I feel the same way towards each other. How would you feel if somebody tried to split you two up? And instead of flirting with my husband, why don't you pay more attention to your daughter? Why haven't you been looking for her instead of following us? And if you really cared for Angel, why didn't you pay more attention to her when you visited our home instead of Tramp! I hate to say it Peg, but you're acting very selfishly and I don't understand how you ever could've been a lover or a mother. "

Peg was speechless for a moment, and she felt the full impact of Lady's words. There was a long silence. And then the feeling crept over her that maybe she had the wrong priorities after all. She hung her head, sighed, then muttered, "You're right about you and Tramp…" She cried a little bit. "I see now that you two really care about each other, just like me and my husband did...and I suppose I was being too selfish and flirty. You were right about that…" Peg sighed but she looked into Lady's eyes and told her, "But you're wrong about something. I… I do care about Angel. She's my only family and she means everything to me. I came to your house only to see her, I didn't even realize Tramp was there until your son told me. And I'm following you exactly because of my daughter. I have to let you know of some bad news," Her voice became suddenly more alarmed. "I know where my daughter is."

The other parents gasped. Then Pongo asked, "Where is she, Peg?" Pongo asked.

"She was kidnapped by this woman with a long cigarette holder and a long fur coat, I thought she looked like trouble," Peg replied.

Perdita gasped. "Oh no! Cruella!"

Pongo declared, "We've got to find where she took the puppies!"

Lady, Tramp, and Peg looked confused. "Who's Cruella?" Tramp asked.

Pongo answered, "She's a devil woman… she skins puppies."

"No!" Lady gasped.

"You mean…" Peg asked. "She's going to kill all of them?"

"All of them?" Perdita asked fearfully. "What do you mean?"

"She also kidnapped Angel's boyfriend and some spotted puppies like yourselves," Peg explained.

"Oh no!" Perdita gasped. "What will we do?"

"We have to stop her," Pongo shouted. "Come on!"

Lady, Pongo, Perdita, and Tramp instantly stood up, and tore out of Tony's restaurant. As they looked behind, they noticed Peg was running after them.

"Wait! Can I join you?" Peg asked them. "I've got to save my daughter, I'm the only blood family she has left. And if Angel ran away because of me, you might need my help to get her back to her home." Then she looked intently at Lady and told her, "I won't flirt with Tramp anymore, I promise."

Lady hesitated, but she remembered Toughy and Bull's story in the pound and all that Peg did to help Angel. And then she remembered that Tramp was not interested in anyone else other than her. With a sigh in her voice, Lady muttered to Peg, "All right, then."

Peg gave a genuine smile to Lady, and whispered, "Thank you dearie…" and then she looked at both Lady and Tramp. "Would you two forgive me for trying to flirt with you, Tramp, and trying to split you up?"

"I understand how you felt," Tramp told her. "You just wanted to relive our old relationship… and thank you for accepting my love for Lady."

Lady smiled at Peg. "I forgive you Peg…" Then she told the other parents, "And let's put our past differences behind us. We're all parents… we're all here to save our puppies… and we're all in this together."

And the five parents held out their paws in agreement and smiled at each other, and with that, Peg joined the rest of the parents in the search to rescue their puppies.


	18. Search for the Puppies

DISCLAIMER: Lady and the Tramp, 101 Dalmatians, and their worlds belong to Disney.

Ch. 18- Search for the Puppies

Hurrying away from Tony's, the parents knew that they had no time to lose and that they had to save their puppies from Cruella as soon as possible.

"Well, now we know that our puppies aren't out on the streets anymore," Tramp told the other parents. "So we have to find out where Cruella lives."

"I have an idea," Pongo suggested. "There's always the Twilight Bark. We'll be sure to get help that way."

"What is the…" Lady asked, but Perdita interrupted. "This isn't London, Pongo… are you sure there is a Twilight Bark here?"

"Well Perdy, we can always try," Pongo replied, and then abruptly, he issued a few booming barks that echoed through town.

The parents waited, hearing only crickets chirping while waiting for a response. Then, in the distance, Pongo heard an answer. He wagged his tail excitedly.

"We're in luck!" Pongo told the others excitedly, listening to the bark. "Let's see… they're telling us to go to 55 Chestnut Road for information. Come on!" And the parents ran toward the house, following the bark. They passed a few streets and then arrived at Chestnut Road. Only one light was on at the street, and just as the parents suspected, it was at 55 Chestnut Road. Waiting for them on its porch was an enormous light grey dog with a very thick coat. He stood there with a gleaming, gold collar on.

"Hey! It's Boris!" Tramp declared in surprise.

"Well well well, it's the Tramp," Boris told him happily in his thick Russian accent. Then he looked down. "Why, it's the little bublichki… are you his girl then?"

"Yes, I am," Lady happily told Boris. She was pleased to see that Tramp happily nodded along with her, and that Peg slightly smiled and also nodded.

"Ah, that's wonderful," Boris smiled. Then he looked back at Lady again. "Pardon to say it, but I never learned your name," Boris told Lady.

"My name's Lady," Lady smiled. Then he looked down at Peg and smiled at his old inmate. "And how are you doing, Peg?"

"All right, Boris," Peg told him gently.

"And you must be the famous Dalmatians," Boris told Pongo and Perdita. "You have all come to the right place."

Boris looked out at the streets for a few seconds before saying, "So if I'm thinking correctly, all of you must be the parents and you are talking about some missing puppies?" Boris asked. Seeing nods, Boris answered, "Well, from what I can recall, I saw a funny, small red car with some puppies in it…"

"Yeah, that sounds right," Peg told them. "The car I saw was quite a snazzy, rich car...oh I think I remember the license number."

"You do?" Perdita asked hopefully. "What is it?"

"Something like…002BADUN," Peg answered.

Pongo and Perdita looked at each other significantly. Perdita muttered, "Badun… that's Horace and Jasper. But…"

"Who are they?" Lady asked.

"Cruella's minions," Perdita answered shortly.

The parents looked at each other. Then they turned to Boris, and Pongo asked him, "Where did you see that car go off to?"

Boris thought about it for a moment, then he told them, "Well, I saw the car on the main street when I was out on my walk. Go back into town to follow. It was going due north straight ahead on that main street. But I didn't see the car stop. I never saw the car before or since. I'm afraid that is all I saw, the car disappeared into the distance. I talked about it to some neighbor dogs, but they didn't know either. Nobody ever saw that car before or since."

"Wait a moment," Boris told the parents. Then he went into his house, and a few minutes later he brought out five meat slices. "It's not much but it's the best I could do to help you all on your journey."

"Bless your soul, Boris," Perdita told him, and the parents hurriedly wolfed down the meat slices.

"Good luck on your journey," Boris told the parents after they expressed their gratitude. Then they left his house, heading back toward the town to continue their journey.

"Isn't it funny," Pongo muttered, "That no one ever recognized a car like that?"

Then Tramp suddenly got an idea. "D'you know what? I think it's a fake license."

"You mean…" Lady asked, and Tramp nodded. "I think they're breaking the rules," Tramp told them.

"Makes sense," Peg added. "She didn't seem much like a good driver, she jammed with a halt and a huge screechin' noise came from that car when she took off."

"That's certainly Cruella," Pongo told Peg. "I don't know how she ever got her driver's license."

They followed Boris's advice and went straight ahead on the main street until they got to a crosswalk.

"But where do we go now?" Lady asked, seeing a few cars roll by. "Maybe…"

And then Lady's eyes lit up. "Do you know where she lived in Britain?"

"A old rusty mansion," Pongo told Lady. "It's known as Hell Hall where we live… we didn't stay long to investigate… but why?"

"Well, I was just thinking," Lady told them softly. "That if she was really rich, she might want to try to find a rich hideout here."

"What a great idea!" Pongo told Lady. "Do you know any sort of rich neighborhood in town?"

"Well, I suppose you might call my neighborhood rich," Lady answered. "But I can't imagine that Cruella would go there, it's not secretive enough. Maybe Tramp and Peg would know more. They're streetdogs, after all."

"Hmm… let me see," Peg muttered slowly, watching another car go by. "There isn't really any neighborhood richer than dearie's in the city."

"But there are some further out!" Tramp told them, remembering excitedly. "I remember one place with a lot of booty. There's all kinds of stuff there… I went there once, and there was the finest steak I ever tasted… ooh boy, delicious."

"What is this place?" Perdita asked Tramp.

"It's some place called Dusk Way," Tramp told them.

"I never heard of it," Lady told Tramp confusedly.

"Well, our pets would never go there," Tramp told Lady. "It's kinda dark and dingy… but it has a lot of old rich mansions… plenty of booty, and empty houses. Everyone's scared to go there, a lot of people think it's haunted."

"I know that place kinda well too," Peg told them. "I went there a while back to run from the dogcatcher and to look for Angel before. And my impressions are the same as Tramp's."

Pongo and Perdita thought about it for a bit. "Well, Cruella does like rich houses…" Pongo began.

"And haunted things don't seem to bother her," Perdita added.

"And a secluded place for her to carry out her work seems perfect for her," Pongo suggested. "I think that it's definitely worth a try," Pongo told Tramp, and Perdita nodded, and the five parents headed across the crosswalk.

The sky was pitch-black as they made their way through the dimly lit streets. They returned to the city path again, and the city still seemed huge despite the distance they crossed through it. Hustling for about half an hour, Tramp declared, "Well, we're getting near Dusk Way now!"

"Let's call for help to see if anyone here saw Cruella," Perdita recommended. Then she barked loudly.

At once, a feisty little French Bulldog hustled out of the house. "Oh la la! It's the Tramp!"

"Hey Francois," Tramp told him.

"Your son… he is in terrible trouble!" Francois gasped. "Buster is after him! I heard him down the road an hour ago! He's vowing vengeance!"

"Oh no!" Lady gasped.

Pongo then told him, "Do you know where a car that had a license plate of, uh…"

"002BADUN went?" Peg finished.

"Oh, yes, that car went into Dusk Way," Francois explained.

"Thank you," Perdita told him.

"Well Pidge, you were right about thinking about location," Tramp told her.

Lady smiled, saying, "Thanks." Then she sighed and cried, "Still, I wish Jim Dear and Darling were here… they would be able to help us out…"

"I'm sure they probably are trying to help now, Lady," Pongo told her gently. "Knowing my pets, they'd be out on the alert. I'm sure yours would be the same. And my pets know all about Cruella. If they got wind that Cruella was here, they'd turn her in, no problem."

"I wish somebody would notice that there were unhappy puppies in the back seat… then somebody would call the police," Lady sighed sadly.

"Our pets might this time," Pongo explained. "My pets called Scotland Yard last time," Pongo told her. "And they helped catch Cruella. But there would have to be time for them to cross the sea… then it would be too late."

"But I hope police doesn't mean the dogcatcher," Peg told them sadly. "That's the last thing we need. I can't imagine if Angel went back to the pound…. Poor darling."

Lady couldn't help feeling sorry for her old romantic rival. She placed a paw on Peg, and told her, "Don't worry Peg, if we find out that Angel is the pound, we'll call our owners and they'll rescue her. Angel will turn out okay, I promise," she told Peg. Then Lady gently asked her, "Do you miss her?"

"You'd have no idea," Peg told Lady sadly. "I couldn't see her at all… we were separated when a family came to adopt her… and she hardly spent any time with her mama. I just wish I could've been with her when she was growin' up."

Lady forgot all of her old feelings of disdain as she bent down next to Peg to comfort her. "I understand," Lady commiserated. "You probably would've been a much better parent for her than that mangy Buster."

"Thank you dearie," Peg smiled. Then she, bristled and said, "That Buster, he was such a nasty thing. I can't believe Angel had to grow up with him!"

"He was a real nuisance," Tramp told them scathingly. "I never really understood him. He seemed to think I was his best friend or something because I got him out of some trouble at one point and then when I went out on my own, he started to whine and complain. Then when Scamp came, he tried to kill him to get revenge."

Lady, however, looked at her husband imploringly. "You should have told Buster your true intentions," she told him firmly. "If you did, he would not have hated you so much."

"So, what is the point you're trying to get at, Pigeon," Tramp asked.

"Please tell our children everything," Lady told Tramp. "You'll have to tell everything about your past to them. Otherwise, they'll misunderstand you just like he did, and our family will never be united again."

Tramp paused, pondering every word Lady spoke. He cleared his throat, and told them, "Well, it looks like Dusk Way is still a long way from here. Come on, let's get going."

But as they passed another corner, Lady saw in Tramp's eye that there was something there that seemed to be… almost regret? Finally, Tramp was realizing what must be done, Lady thought.


	19. Nightmare Bedroom

DISCLAIMER: Lady and the Tramp, 101 Dalmatians, and their worlds belong to Disney.

Chapter 19—Nightmare Bedroom

Scamp, Angel, Patch, Penny, and Lucky were still trapped in the cage that Horace and Jasper locked them up in. The room they were trapped in was a small bedroom with a small bunk bed, and a couple of little chairs along with a desk next to the window. The bed was infested with bedbugs, and the floor had a very dusty carpet that probably was not cleaned in years. Apart from that, the room was boiling since it lacked air conditioning, and if the blinds were not left open to the room's sole small window, it would have been completely dark. The puppies, being stuck in a cramped cage in this poorly lit, filthy, sweltering room, with threats to their lives swirling around them, desired nothing else than to get out.

"This cage must have been meant for only one dog," Lucky complained, rattling the bars of the cage. "We can't all fit in here."

"Yeah," Patch complained. "Figures though, it's exactly how she'd treat us." Then he turned to Angel, and asked. "Hey Angel, can you get us out?"

"I don't know," Angel replied, trying to paw open the bars in vain. "It's a tight fit to do anything in here."

"But..." Scamp told the other puppies nervously. "We know what we have to do when we leave here, don't we?"

The other puppies looked in horror at Scamp. Even Angel looked terrified. They knew what Scamp was probably thinking of, but to actually suggest it? At last, Penny nervously asked, "Well… what?"

"We have to go and turn that switch off in Cruella's room," Scamp explained, shivering a little bit with each word he spoke.

The puppies gasped. They knew that it was probably the only chance they had to escape, but it terrified them all the same. "But that would be so dangerous!" Penny fearfully trembled. "She'd skin us at the moment!"

Patch however, shook his head. "I think Scamp has it right," he told Penny reluctantly. "We can either attempt to get out ourselves or wait to be skinned. I don't know about you, but I'd rather try to escape," he finished solemnly while looking down on the floor. Then, he lifted up his head, and told them, "Thunder wouldn't be lying in his cage and wait to be skinned, would he?"

"Yes, but Thunder's a superhero… and… we're just five little puppies! It's so risky!" Penny declared fearfully, shivering. "Oh, I knew I shouldn't have run off! I miss home!"

Patch slightly frowned at Penny. How could Penny betray him and go back home? "She's only saying that because she's scared," Patch told himself. But then Patch forgot about Penny's declaration when Angel gasped, "Hey guys…. Guess what, we're free! Horace and Jasper didn't lock the cage!"

"But…" Lucky muttered, but he gasped as Angel grabbed the combination lock off with her teeth and grinned.

"How did you do that?" Penny asked Angel incredulously.

"The idiots forgot to lock it tightly," she explained with a smirk as she dropped the lock as it hit the metal floor with a clang. "They just put the lock on it and didn't close it all the way. A little prying from my teeth was all it took to do the job."

"Angel, you're amazing!" Scamp exclaimed.

"Thanks Tenderfoot," Angel told Scamp affectionately, and the two of them rubbed against each other for a moment. Then Scamp pushed open the cage door.

The door swung open with a light jingle of metal. Carefully making their way and trying to avoid bumping into the silhouettes of the bed and the two chairs, the puppies walked up to the place where they saw the faint light of the hallway and the outline of the door.

Lucky stuck his paw on the right side of the door, and he hoped to find a crack in which if he prodded it, the door would open more. However, he could not find a crack. Then he tried pushing open the door, but it did not budge.

"Oh, not another one of these!" Penny cried sadly. "I can't see anything here though… not in detail anyway. We must have some light. Maybe we should wait until our eyes get adjusted to the dark."

"I know where the switch would be," Lucky told the other puppies.

The others looked at Lucky, before he explained, "I know all about how switches work, it's slightly to the right of the door."

Lucky then moved over to the right side of the door, and then jumped up. He felt a switch, and then, a dim light turned on in the room. The puppies cheered excitedly and smiled at Lucky as he returned.

"Wahoo! It's light in here!" Scamp declared excitedly.

"Wow, thanks Lucky!" Penny told him happily, and she licked him on the cheek. Lucky smiled at his sister. But then Penny abruptly had another thought. "You know how to turn off that light, Lucky?" she asked worriedly. "Because we have to turn that light off when we get out, otherwise Cruella will see us."

"I'll try it out," Lucky told Penny. He then rushed over to the light switch and flicked the switch down, then he jumped up and flicked it on again. "It's not a problem," Lucky told Penny, and then the two smiled warmly at each other.

Patch couldn't help feeling a tinge of sadness. He wished that Penny would be paying more attention to him like she used to. But it wasn't time to dwell on his problems right now. He tried to ignore his siblings and asked Angel, "So can we break out of this one?"

"It's like the first lock I broke," Angel explained calmly as she stared at the lock. "This one shouldn't be too bad. Tenderfoot, you can do the honors if you wish…"

"Okay," Scamp told her excitedly.

Patch, Penny, Lucky, and Angel then proceeded to slide one of the chairs over next to the door. Scamp smiled at them, then he jumped onto the chair. From the chair, he jumped onto the door handle's lock. He tried to twist it, but he fell down on the floor, gasping, "Woah!"

"You're okay, tenderfoot?" Angel asked gently, speaking softly to Scamp in concern.

"They didn't forget to lock this one," Scamp groaned, feeling the pain on his back. "Ouch, this hurts…"

"Let me try," Patch told them. He looked at the door handle, and then he jumped onto it, but after trying to open it, he fell down with a thud. "Urgh… he's right, it is locked."

"I can take care of it, if you want," Angel told Scamp.

But Scamp shook his head. "Let me try this one. Don't worry, I'll get it open," Scamp told her firmly. "I won't give up."

"Well, okay tenderfoot," Angel told him. "But you have to be pretty quiet or else they'd hear us."

As quietly as he could, Scamp played with the lock for a bit. The other puppies watched apprehensively, carefully listening for any sort of noise, but silence was all that enveloped them apart from Scamp's struggles with the door handle, which were still much louder than Angel's. Until then, all of a sudden, a small click signified that he fixed the latch. Exhausted, Scamp dropped down onto the floor.

"Great job, Tenderfoot!" Angel told him delightedly.

"Yeah!" Patch cheered. "You were just like Thunder, Scamp!"

"Gee thanks," Scamp told Patch, wagging his tail happily.

Then Patch jumped again on the handle, and this time, he opened up the door.

"So we're out," Patch whispered, taking his first few steps into the hallway when he returned to the ground, the other puppies following him out.

"I'm scared," Penny cried, recoiling slightly back into the bedroom. With a stutter in her voice, she asked, "What are we to do now?"

"Look for Cruella's room," Angel whispered. The whole upstairs hallway was dark, very long, and eerily silent. They could just see the shadow across the room that was the other wall. However, there was a little bit of bright light two doors down from them. After a few seconds, a screeching noise came from that room.

"That's probably where she is," Patch commented. "It sounds creepy in there."

"Can I go watch TV in there?" Lucky asked excitedly.

"Probably not…" Penny whispered sadly. "Do you see what's happening in there?"

The other puppies shook their heads. "Let's go check," Angel suggested and they walked over to the door and peered under the crack.

Scamp and Angel peered under the door. But the two of them forgot some of their nerves upon seeing a very bewildering sight.

"She's… singing," Angel whispered to Scamp with mild amusement.

Scamp began to laugh. "Wow… she sounds awful! She sounds even worse than that time my sisters sang about their lovely bath."

Penny, Patch, and Lucky also looked under the door and laughed. They couldn't see much, but Cruella's shoes were dancing through the room. They were brushing the dusty red carpet, as she wore her favorite fur coat, dangling in and out of their vision, and she was loudly screeching about how pretty her new fur coat would be.

"I never saw Cruella acting so funny!" Lucky told the others. "She's so crazy!"

Penny however, stopped laughing, and she gasped, "Oh, her singing about that fur coat makes me scared. How could we get in there without her noticing? Maybe… do you think we can…"

But then, Cruella abruptly stopped singing, and the puppies saw her shoes moving towards the door.


	20. The Switch

DISCLAIMER: Lady and the Tramp, 101 Dalmatians, and their worlds belong to Disney.

Chapter 20- The Switch

The puppies gasped as Cruella's shoes drew nearer and nearer to them.

"Oh no! Hide!" Patch gasped nervously. The puppies did not wait for a moment and they all scampered to hide in the bathroom across the hallway from Cruella's bedroom. They looked at each other nervously, and their eyes widened in fear as they anticipated Cruella coming out of her bedroom.

"I hope we shut the door of our bedroom," Penny whispered.

"We didn't," Lucky told her matter-of-factly.

Penny walked back and forth nervously."And did we turn the light off?" she asked frantically.

"We didn't do that either," Lucky replied.

"Oh no!" Penny cried. "We're in real trouble!

"We've got to turn off that light and shut that door! Or she'll notice it for sure!" Angel gasped fearfully.

But it was too late. Cruella swung open the door of her bedroom, which banged against the wall because she swung it so hard. The puppies could tell that Cruella was in a very good mood. Her eyes were slightly shut as she lifted her coat up a little bit so her neck rubbed against it and she sighed dreamily. Then she let go of her coat, opened her eyes and abruptly yelled, "Jasper! Horace!"

Horace and Jasper did not immediately respond. From upstairs, the puppies heard the unmistakable sound of Horace and Jasper watching TV.

Cruella shook her head, sighed, and tried again. Shrieking louder, she yelled, "Jasper! Horace!"

"Jasper, I think I heard something," Horace told Jasper.

"You know Horace, I think you're actually right about something. It must be the mistress," Jasper told him, and then the two of them lumbered to the bottom of the stairs.

"Yes, Miss?" Horace and Jasper told Cruella with an unmistakable lack of enthusiasm.

"It's about time that you numskulls showed up," Cruella growled. "Now where's my cherry pie?"

"Cherry… pie?" Horace asked, dumbfounded.

"Yes!" Cruella shrieked exasperatedly, still standing in the hallway, lifting her arms up into the air. "The cherry pie I told you to make me earlier this morning."

"But Madame, that wasn't in the job description," Jasper protested. "We don't know how to cook!"

"Yeah, you just said take care of…" But Cruella cut him off, saying, "I'm the boss! I give you the money. The job description is to follow my orders. And I'm telling you to give me my cherry pie!"

"We'll get to it," Jasper told her disinterestedly, but she then screamed, "And that's not all! I want my play darts that you took! I want them for practice to throw at the stuffed Dalmatians!"

"They're in your room," Horace shouted. "We didn't touch them."

"Oh yes you did!" Cruella shrieked at them and she began to walk down the stairs. "I can't find them anywhere! They must have gotten…"

Cruella's voice trailed off as she reached the downstairs, but the puppies could tell she was continuing to rage at Horace and Jasper. They heard her footsteps and those of Horace and Jasper heading further and further away from them.

"Hey," Scamp whispered. "Now that she's downstairs, maybe I can go in the room and find that switch."

"No! It's too dangerous! She could come back any second! " Penny squealed, but Scamp recklessly crossed the hallway and entered Cruella's room.

"Can I come?" asked a voice behind Scamp.

Scamp turned, and saw Lucky following him. "I want to go in too."

Scamp replied, "Sure, I guess…"

"But you know it's very dangerous for you, don't you Lucky?" Penny asked from across the hallway. Lucky ignored her, and the two of them entered the room.

Scamp laid his eyes on one of the most unpleasant rooms he'd seen in his life. The floor was very, very dusty, and countless bugs were crossing the room. A large, elegant bed stood in the room. It looked fairly comfortable, but its bedposts had bizarre, deformed expressions on them that caused Scamp to shiver. An old creepy telephone sat loosely on her nightstand, which also was occupied with layers of dust. On the walls of the room, posters of fur coat designs covered up the red paint, and on her desk, a group of stuffed Dalmatians with beady black eyes sat. Sitting nearby them were some scissors and some things that looked suspiciously like stuffed animals that were already cut apart, and some dolls that were wearing coats that looked suspiciously similar to the stuffed animal fabric.

"Hey!" Lucky declared from behind Scamp. "There's a TV in here!"

"Ouch!" Scamp shouted in pain as a bug bit him. Then he turned to Lucky and told him, "Lucky, if you want to be here..."

But Lucky wasn't listening. "I knew there would have to be a TV in here!" he exclaimed excitedly, dashing over to the TV. "Maybe I can turn it on!"

Scamp was incredulous that Lucky could even think about watching television. He exasperatedly told Lucky, "But we can't watch yet. Help me find…"

But Scamp stopped midsentence with a sight on the wall above him. He found a box that read, "Emergency Power-Off."

With all his determination, Scamp jumped up and pressed open the box's cover. The box revealed a myriad of switches, each one was labeled underneath. At the top, there was a warning message. It read, "Danger: these switches are only to be used in emergencies. The usage of any of these switches will break the electric connection and would cause the object in question to be out of operation." Scamp read the description excitedly. He realized that the usage of the switch would not only turn off the fence, but it would also make the fence completely useless! Scamp spent a minute scanning the different switches, and then he found a switch that read "Fence". The switch was presently on the "On" side. Panting excitedly and wagging his tail, Scamp jumped up and pushed the switch to the "Off" side. Then he jumped up and pressed the box cover shut.

"Yeah!" Scamp declared happily. He turned to Lucky and excitedly shouted, "Lucky! We're done!"

"But I just found the switch…" Lucky began.

Scamp gasped. Lucky had managed to find the on button on Cruella's television, and he turned the television on. Unfortunately, Cruella had the TV set on a very loud volume, and Lucky was already passionately watching the television.

"Lucky, it has to go off!" Scamp nervously told him. "That TV wasn't on before… Cruella would notice!" However, Scamp, being completely unfamiliar with televisions, was unable to find the switch that would turn the TV off.

"I'm not done watching!" Lucky argued with Scamp, and the two of them began to tussle in front of the television. "And she wouldn't notice anyway!"

"Yes she would!" Scamp growled, baring his teeth at Lucky. "Turn that off now!"

By the stairs, Angel was keeping watch of what was happening downstairs. She peered down the stairs and saw Cruella leave the kitchen, saying, "All right! All right! I'm going back to my room! And make me that pie! I'll be expecting that pie by this evening!" And Cruella began to walk toward the stairs. Angel's heart froze with horror, and with all the speed she could muster she scampered over to Cruella's bedroom. Scamp was still trying to turn off the TV, with Lucky doing all he could to prevent just that. Angel entered Cruella's bedroom, and she hurriedly told Scamp and Lucky, "Hurry, get out of here! We have to leave!"

"I know," Scamp asked, still wrestling with Lucky and trying to turn off the TV switch. "But I'm trying to shut off this TV thingy!"

"We don't have time!" Angel shouted. "Cruella's coming! Hurry!" With no time to do anything else to the television, they all quickly raced out of the bedroom and into the bathroom just as Cruella entered.

Scamp, Angel, and Lucky managed to get into the bathroom without being detected, and Patch and Penny looked relieved to see them back. The five of them jumped into the bathtub, thinking it would be the best place to hide.

"Did you turn off the fence?" Angel quietly asked Scamp while the puppies were beginning to settle in.

Tired, Scamp nodded. "It's hard work, I tell you, she sure has a ton of switches…" Then, he rounded on Lucky. "You blew it! Why did you turn the TV on?"

"I haven't watched any TV in days!" Lucky complained. "I don't know if Thunderbolt defeated the Blasted Bandit or not!"

"Lucky, did you seriously turn the TV on?" Patch asked incredulously.

"So what if I did?" Lucky snapped back. "There's only so long I can go without the TV!"

"Maybe she won't notice," Angel sighed hopefully.

"She will," Penny told them dourly. "It's not that hard to notice…"

But then, an unpleasant, loud monotonous beeping occurred. The beeping seemed to be coming from Cruella's room.

"Wh…what's happening?" Patch asked nervously.

"Oh no," Penny whispered. "This sounds bad."

Cruella instantly stopped walking toward her bedroom and returned to the stairs. From the top of the stairs, she roared, "Well! Who turned off my fence!" The beeping repeated over and over again.

"I didn't," Horace stated.

"Nor did I," Jasper added.

"Well, somebody did!" Cruella shrieked. "Somebody went into my box to turn that fence off! You fools! That power switch is only used for emergencies! Can you idiots read the warning? Didn't you realize that that the usage of that switch broke the electrical current of my fence!"

Angel, Patch, and Penny gasped in delight. "Scamp, you didn't tell us that you destroyed it!" Patch gasped in delight, to which Scamp happily nodded.

Meanwhile, Cruella continued to rave. "I need a repairman now to fix this fence up. And I do not tolerate this! Do you understand!"

"Blimey, for the last time!" Horace told Cruella. "I didn't do it… did you, Jasper?"

"Nah, Horace," Jasper replied.

But then, Cruella looked in the bathroom, and her eyes scanned the room until they fell upon the five puppies in the bathtub. With no place to hide, the puppies were cornered. Cruella screamed, "You didn't lock all of those puppies up! How could you be so careless!"

"We did Madame," Horace stuttered.

"Blimey, I don't know how they escaped," Jasper added, but Cruella ignored them.

"You left me with no choice," Cruella groaned, "Get me that weapon as quick as possible! Until then, I need those puppies to be under my constant supervision now that the fence is broken. They're going to spend some time with me in my room… where they'll never get out!"

And Cruella picked up the five puppies and walked into the room with them. She threw them onto the bed, and she locked herself in her bedroom with them. Then she grinned, "And I won't be leaving this room until I get my furry coat!" And she cackled triumphantly with that thought as the puppies looked at each other in terror.


	21. Into the Mansion

DISCLAIMER: Lady and the Tramp, 101 Dalmatians, and their worlds belong to Disney.

Chapter 21—Into The Mansion

Dusk Way, as it turned out, was not a small street. On the contrary, it was really a collection of streets upon streets, filled with large, desolate looking mansions. Tramp and Peg, who both thought they knew the place well, were both shocked with the size of it, and they were almost as lost as Lady, Pongo, and Perdita in navigating through it.

"I don't know where they could be," Perdita sadly cried as she looked down yet another abandoned street. "Where could Cruella live in this mess?"

"I wish I knew, Perdy," Pongo replied, shaking his head. "But they can't be too far, can they? I mean they have to be in Dusk Way somewhere."

Perdita replied, "I hope you're right," then she looked sadly at Pongo, before Tramp calmly told her, "Hey, we'll get them back, don't worry. We'll find them."

"But where could they be?" Perdita asked nervously. "I'm so afraid…and what if we're too late?"

But just as she asked, a loud beeping siren began to ring, which distracted all of the parents.

"That's a strange noise," Peg told them curiously. "I never heard that before."

"Me neither," Tramp commented as he looked straight ahead.

"You think…" Lady asked hopefully. "That that was the police? Did they catch Cruella already?"

"I don't know," Pongo replied.

"Well, maybe we should follow that siren to find out," Lady suggested.

The parents looked at each other, and in silence, they agreed that Lady had a good idea. They hurried down streets, with the siren getting progressively louder and louder, and they followed the siren in the hope that it would get them to Cruella's mansion.

Just when the new morning's sun began to rise, the parents saw a large house in the distance that looked particularly uninviting, with a large tall fence surrounding the place.

"Woah… this is a creepy house," Tramp said. "Maybe this is it."

The siren got louder and louder as they approached the house. Dead, barren trees littered the front yard of the house, and a howling wind blustered, scattering leaves on the ground. The parents shivered at the sight of the house due to its frightening appearance. Pongo stared at the house for a moment, and he realized just how much it looked like Hell Hall.

"Perdy, I think we might have just found it!" Pongo told Perdita. "It seems like the perfect place for her, don't you think?"

Perdita nodded and replied, "Yes, she would probably like a place like this."

"She does have bad taste," Peg muttered, staring at the front yard.

"Yeah, she does," Tramp agreed.

"Well then," Pongo suggested. "Should we investigate it to see if they're here?"

Lady, Tramp, and Peg nodded, but Perdita shook her head. The others looked surprisedly at her. But she told them, "Look though, we can't go through this way," Perdita informed them, reading a sign on the fence. The others read, "Danger: High Voltage." "If we go in through here, our puppies will have no one to save them and even if they do survive, they'll be left out on the streets as orphans!"

The parents nodded, realizing that Perdita had a point. They then looked nervously at the fence.

"It has to be her," Lady whispered softly. "Who else would have such a threatening fence?"

"Oh, what can we do?" Perdita asked. "We can't get inside…" Perdita added sadly as they reached the center of the fence, where the driveway was.

"We have to get through somehow," Tramp whispered. Then, he got a sudden idea. He whispered, "Hey! Let me try something."

Lady cried, saying, "Tramp, be careful!"

"I will Pidge, promise," Tramp told Lady. He grabbed a stone on the grassy patch of the street and threw it at the fence. Nothing happened immediately. Smirking, Tramp gently touched the fence with the tip of his paw, but abruptly… nothing happened.

"Ha ha!" Tramp declared delightedly. "It didn't work!"

"You mean…" Lady whispered, and then she noticed it. "Of course!" Lady cheered delightedly. "It's off!"

"We're in luck," Pongo whispered happily. "Follow me in."

"But Pongo, how can we get in?" Perdita asked. "It's still locked, without a doubt. And digging would take forever! But… wait…" Perdita slowly whispered. "I know."

Perdita told the others quietly, "We don't need to unlock the door… we can just break through that fence!"

Tramp nodded encouragingly. "Good idea! Let's try it… one, two…"

And with a nod at each other, the parents broke through the fence and emerged together and unscathed on the other side.

"Hey," Pongo whispered. "A car's coming!"

A red, small car quickly made its way into the driveway, and the parents went to hide in the bushes, looking carefully out to see what was going on. A tall, skinny man and a short, fat man got out of the car and lumbered over to the house.

"I knew it… Jasper and Horace," Pongo whispered.

"Blast it… that postman hasn't got it yet," Jasper complained.

"She's going to be really mad at us," Horace told Jasper. "Jasper… Jasper… if she fires us…we'll be stuck back in jail because she'll report us."

"Aw shut up," Jasper told Horace, approaching the house.

"Let me check to see that's the car," Peg whispered, "It sure looks like it, anyway. That way we'll know for sure if our puppies are inside."

Carefully, Peg ran behind the back of the car and examined the license plate, all the while keeping an eye to make sure that Jasper and Horace didn't see any of the other parents. Peg looked at the license plate, saw the letters "002BADUN on it" Then she ran back toward the rest of the parents.

"We're going in when they open the door," Pongo barked to Peg as she returned to them. "Is this the same car?"

"Yeah," Peg answered. "The license plate is 002BADUN, all right, the car Cruella was sitting in when she grabbed poor Angel."

"So what are we waiting for?" Tramp asked. "The puppies are waiting for us, and we must save them before it's too late!"

The others nodded, continuing to keep an eye on Horace and Jasper, who were slowly ambling up to the door, undoubtedly dreading hearing Cruella's anger of still not having her weapon. The two of them knocked at the door, and waited. There was a long pause.

"She must be in her bedroom," Horace yawned.

"Maybe she poisoned herself," Jasper told Horace hopefully. "Then we can take the dough and go."

But at last, the front door opened and revealed Cruella, furious as ever.  
"Where have you been?" Cruella asked, screeching angrily. "And where's my weapon?"

"It's not here yet, miss," Jasper told Cruella.

"You blithering idiots! I bet you just went up to the postman and asked for where it would be, isn't that right?" Cruella asked.

"Well, we did something like that. What else are we supposed to do?" Horace asked back.

"You fools!" Cruella gasped. "Don't you realize that they might confiscate it?"

"Oh come off it," Jasper replied. "They know we're not killing any people… we told them that we'd just be killing puppies," Jasper began, causing Cruella to become even angrier.

"There aren't a lot of criminals who think of such brilliant schemes as I do! I had to work hard to get out of jail myself! If we were in Britain, I would be back in jail by now due to your incompetence! It's only lucky that people here are unfamiliar with me and my acts! Now get going and get me my weapon, and don't mess up!"

"Yes Madame," Horace told her nervously.

Cruella then tried to slam the door shut, but Jasper had his fingers pressed in the crack. Groaning in agony, he did succeed in keeping the door open. She tried shutting the door on his fingers but they didn't move. At last, she opened it up. "Well? What do you want!"

"Now, wait a minute, ma'am," he told her, squinting with the agony of his injured hand. "We need a pay raise, or else a break now. We won't be able to work well because we need some rest. We'll kill the puppies a bit later, can't we?"

"Very well, very well, take care of the puppies later," Cruella reluctantly complained. "But go to find my weapon at the post office right now! Search it before it's too late!"

"But we need time to think of a strategy," Horace complained. Cruella was backing up into the house, with Horace and Jasper following her in. But Cruella and the Baduns were making so much noise that the parents could still hear every word of their conversation.

"Oh, very well," Cruella explained. "I don't have time to deal with you idiots, I have to talk to my bookseller. Now as soon as the post office opens, get me that weapon!"

"She's the most horrible person I ever met," Lady whispered to Tramp, who nodded in agreement.

"Hey," Pongo muttered. "The door's open!"

"Right," Perdita whispered. "Let's go."

"Ready for this, Pidge?" Tramp asked Lady gently. She nodded determinedly.

"I'll peer in first," Peg told them, and camouflaging with the gravel outside, she rushed onto the front step.

Tramp quickly followed Peg, and he peered into the house. Tramp nodded back toward Lady, Pongo and Perdita, and he and Peg slipped through the small crack that Horace and Jasper left behind. Then, Lady, Pongo and Perdita followed Tramp and Peg into the house.

The parents entered a large, dusty entrance hallway, and they quickly huddled together in a corner of the hallway to make plans. Pongo quickly told them, "Right. Let's split up and search a different area of the house. If anyone's in danger, make a loud, long bark. And whoever finds the puppies…"

"Why don't we just ask them to make five little barks?" Perdita suggested. "That way, Cruella won't know any of us are even in the house."

"That makes sense," Pongo agreed. "So is that a good plan?"

The parents nodded in agreement, and without saying another word, tore off in different directions to investigate the entire household.


	22. Out the Window

DISCLAIMER: Lady and the Tramp, 101 Dalmatians, and their worlds belong to Disney.

Ch. 22- I Think You Have… Graduated

Tucked away in her bedroom, Cruella spent the whole night sitting up in her bed under the sheets and reading magazines while waiting for her weapon to come in the mail. From time to time, she threw a glance at the puppies to make sure they were still there. The puppies however had no intention of running away yet. They knew that they couldn't do anything with Cruella keeping a close eye on them and that they would have to wait for her to be distracted.

After many hours, she looked at her watch which read six o'clock in the morning. She smirked, for she knew that the post office had just opened. She opened up the door slightly, all the while making sure that the puppies were still in the room, and she called "Jasper! Horace!"

Horace and Jasper came upstairs, and she exclaimed to them in anticipation, "It's time for you to go to the post office and get my weapon!"

"Why can't you go?" Horace asked.

"Yeah, if you don't like the way we do it," Jasper added.

"I have to watch those puppies, you idiots!" Cruella declared. "You two mess up all the time with that task, so I have to keep a constant watch over them! Get me my weapon at the post office or else! And don't return until you've got it!"

"Right, Madame," Horace told her dispiritedly.

Horace and Jasper shuffled out of the room, and Cruella slammed the door. She looked behind her to make sure that the puppies were still in the room, and upon the sight of them she grinned with devilish malice before she returned to her bed. The puppies looked nervously at each other, standing in the center of the room, huddled together closely and watching Cruella fearfully.

"Time's running out," Patch sighed.

"So what should we do now?" Penny asked nervously, shivering.

"We can't do anything yet," Angel answered. "Not with Cruella in the room with us."

Cruella meanwhile, was utterly relaxed. She smoked her pipe as she sat in her bed, occasionally leering down at the puppies to make sure they were still there. "I'll get my spotted coat very soon!" she told herself from time to time.

"We're in trouble now," Penny whispered. "I wonder if there is any way…"

Then abruptly, the doorbell rang from downstairs. Cruella got out of her bed, and she enthusiastically exclaimed, "It must be the weapon!"

Hurriedly, Cruella shuffled out of the room, taking great care to lock the door, and then the puppies heard her footsteps going to the front door.

"I'll take a look outside to see what's going on," Patch suggested. He jumped onto Cruella's desk and then walked onto the window ledge sitting by it. Then he peered down into the front yard and began observing.

"Let's see... Horace and Jasper are down there, but they're not carrying anything," he observed.

Penny sighed with relief. "That means she doesn't have the weapon yet!" she exclaimed. "I suppose there's no need for an impulsive getaway then. We still have time to get out with a strategy."

"But we already have shut down the fence," Patch argued, sitting on the desk. "All of our work would be worthless by the time she can repair it again."

"It's still not worth the risk to leave now," Penny told him firmly. "We can shut down the fence again right before we leave. But we have to think of a quick escape route for when we do leave, otherwise, she'd have an easier time catching us, "

However, before Patch could reply, he groaned, "Penny, we don't have a choice, we must leave now."

Penny could detect a change of tone in Patch's voice, so she didn't argue. "What's going on?" Scamp asked.

"My parents are here," Patch declared crossly. "They're following Jasper and Horace into the house. There's also another woman next to them."

"What does she look like?" Scamp inquired, standing up.

"She's small and she has long, brown ears," Patch answered.

"Oh no," Scamp gasped frantically. "We gotta get out of here! That's Mom. Pop's probably here too."

"I can't stand looking at any of them," Angel growled disdainfully, shaking her head. "How come Horace and Jasper are letting them in, anyway?"

"Don't complain!" Lucky told them excitedly. "Maybe they can…"

But then the other four puppies stared at Lucky. "Don't complain?" Patch asked incredulously.

Lucky looked at the others, just as bewilderedly. "You're not happy that our parents are coming to rescue us?"

"Of course not!" Scamp shouted. "All I ever hear at home is rules, rules, rules and lies, lies, lies! And they always treat me like I'm a one-month old!"

"Yeah!" Angel shouted. "And besides, they're not even my family! His father played with my real mama's heart!"

"Not surprised that you want to go back," Patch growled to Lucky. "Considering that you're the favorite."

"I am not!" Lucky shouted indignantly.

"You are too!" Patch shouted.

"Patch, Lucky, stop arguing!" Penny told them.

They did, and Lucky changed tact."I shouldn't have run off," Lucky told the others. "I realized just after I did it. I just wanted to have some fun like on TV but instead, I lost everyone who cares about me…"

"You're a traitor, Lucky!" Patch cried. "I thought I could trust you!"

"No, I'm just following my own heart," Lucky told Patch. "I miss Mom and Dad. And not only them, I miss Cadpig and Rolly too! They're my best friends! I want to have fun with them again! And Roger and Anita! I can't believe I actually ran off on them…" Then he cleared his throat and asked. "Don't you all realize what you'll lose if you don't come home?"

Scamp, Angel, and Patch glared at Lucky, and Lucky looked defiantly back at them. "Fine then, let's leave him," Patch told the other puppies. "Coming Penny?"

Penny nodded, and then she, Scamp, Angel, and Patch jumped onto the desk and looked downward.

"How should we get out?" Penny asked

"I don't know…" Patch whispered. "Hey," he muttered. "We already turned off the fence, and so we could probably just break through the fence. The parents must have done that to get in here, I can't see they how they would have gotten in otherwise."

"Good thinking!" Angel whispered admiringly to Patch. "Hey, listen up. Now that the parents are in the house, let's break the window."

"But… shouldn't we wait?" Penny asked fearfully. She had a hint of disapproval in her eyes. "This is dangerous!"

"Anything we might do might be dangerous, including waiting," Patch told Penny.

"I'll break it," Scamp quickly volunteered, and he, Angel and Patch jumped onto the window ledge.

"Patch, if we get out, where would we go?" Penny asked curiously.

"I don't know Penny… far away from the parents," Patch whispered. "And Cruella."

With Patch's answer, Penny was reminded that she was still unsure on whether she was doing the right thing. She was surprised on how serious Patch was on running away from home. She cared about Patch and wanted to be with him, yet at the same time Lucky's words nagged at her, as did the prospect of never seeing her parents again.

"Come on Penny, do you want to help?" Patch asked, interrupting Penny's thoughts.

"Oh!" Penny gasped, returning to her senses. Patch, Angel, and Scamp were looking at her expectantly. Penny wasn't completely sure on whether she was doing the right thing, but she closed her eyes and muttered, "All right then."

"Penny don't!" Lucky gasped, but Penny ignored him. She, Scamp, Angel and Patch walked up to the window, and prepared to lunge at it, but then they were distracted by a crashing noise downstairs.

"Oh no, now we're in trouble," Penny groaned.

Downstairs, Cruella was screaming at Horace and Japser. "Why did you waste my time…I need to go upstairs and make sure everything is right… and if those puppies get away, I'll call the police! They won't know who I really am since I'll appear to be an obese, red-haired woman, so don't try landing me in jail. Now let me check to make sure…!"

The puppies gasped, before Angel declared, "This is our chance! We have to break the window now! She's coming up here this instant!"

Patch, Scamp, and Penny nodded, and at once, the four puppies took a few steps back and lunged at the window, and the glass broke cleanly and quietly. All perching on the ledge, Scamp, Angel, Patch, and Penny felt the breeze from outside and looked at each other for one final time.

"Well, are you guys ready for this?" Angel asked determinedly.

The other puppies nodded, and then they jumped altogether off the window and took a huge fall toward the grass. Scamp toppled over as he fell, and Angel was the only one to land on all four of her paws. But they didn't care how rough the fall was, for now they had escaped her house. Patch and Penny quickly got up and Scamp flipped himself over, excitedly declaring, "Wahoo! We're nearly free!"

"Yeah," Angel whispered excitedly. "Now let's get out of here!"

Without wasting a moment, the four puppies ran toward the fence. They were drawing nearer and nearer the fence with each passing second, their hearts building with excitement.

"Not long now!" Patch told the others breathlessly.

"We're nearly there!" Angel cheered.

But suddenly, from behind the fence, came four large barks.

"Who were those from?" Scamp asked.

The other puppies nervously gasped. Penny asked, "Do you think it could be… your parents?"

"It might be that rotten Tramp!" Angel gasped, horrified. "Oh, I hope he didn't trick us! Did you see Tramp coming in?" she asked Patch.

"Uh-oh… I didn't," Patch panted.

They were still running away, and they knew that they had to be only a few yards away from freedom. But all of a sudden, Penny gasped, "Ouch! My tail!"

Then, the others felt their tails being grabbed. Looking behind them, they noticed to their horror that Cruella was holding onto all of their tails, smirking with triumph. "Well, well, well! You think you can get away from me?" Cruella shrieked. "Think again!"

And then, Cruella put them into another cage. "You can't get out of this one!" she exclaimed.

Cruella carted the cage with the squirming puppies up to her bedroom. The door was left open and the puppies saw that Horace and Jasper had put up a piece of cardboard where the window was to stand in as a new window. Cruella then left the room, saying, "Horace and Jasper are going to have to deal with my wrath!"

Angel muttered, "It's tough, but this cage is not unsolvable, we can get ourselves out," she told them confidently.

But as soon as Cruella shut the door, a voice came from under the bed. "Scamp! Angel! I'm so glad I found you at last!"

The puppies gasped as a small, brown-haired dog excitedly meandered toward them from under Cruella's bed. She was accompanied by Lucky, who was looking very satisfied.

"Oh no, it's Mom," Scamp pouted.

The other puppies groaned.

Lady's heart was racing with joy and relief as she panted and wagged her tail happily. After all that searching, she was delighted that had finally found her children. "Scamp! Angel! Why… and you must be Pongo and Perdita's puppies," Lady cried happily. "We've been looking all over for you! I'm so glad… now we can go home and be together again!"

Patch, however, glared at her. "None of you parents are taking us home."

"Yeah," Scamp growled, angrily shaking in the cage. "Leave us alone!"

Lady looked at the puppies confusedly. She thought that after being captured, the puppies would be more appreciative of their loving families. "But… don't you want to come back home where your family is always there to love you?" Lady asked.

"Oh sure, like I'd ever want to go back to that place," Angel told Lady sarcastically. "You're not even my family!"

"Angel, I know I'm not your real mother, but you're like a daughter to me," Lady told her gently.

"Yeah right!" Angel scathingly replied.

Lady gasped as Scamp growled, "I'm never going home! Your husband is the biggest liar that I ever met! And you… you want us all to act like you! You want us to have perfect manners just like you… I know that's what you really want."

"Why, yes, it would be wonderful, but…" Lady began, but Patch interrupted.

"And then you sent that Tramp after us to trap us again!" Patch exclaimed.

"Huh?" Lady gasped, confusedly. "He…he's inside with us… "

"Oh please, you're lying, you all always do!" Angel exclaimed.

"No... You misunderstand," Lady sighed as the puppies glared at her. She just couldn't believe how resistant the puppies were to coming back home.

"I don't want to see any of you again, you're all so horrid!" Angel gasped, and then, abruptly, she opened the cage door. "I got it!" she gasped.

"Great, let's go!" Patch declared excitedly.

The puppies got out of the cage and stood on the desk.

"Tramp! They're here!" Lady cried excitedly.

"No, we aren't," Angel told Lady.

"Of course you are," Lady insisted.

"Not for long," Angel smirked. "We can get out of here all by ourselves. Ready?"

"But, no!" Penny cried. She finally made her mind up. "I want to go home!"

Patch's heart sank as he gasped at Penny. "Penny, how could you?" he sadly asked. "I thought you wanted to run away with us…"

"I only went out for your sake, Patch." Penny explained to Patch. "I really didn't want to run away myself. I'm sorry Patch, but I can't go on with this anymore."

Patch looked sadly at his best friend abandoning him, and then he looked down sadly at the desk. Penny, meanwhile looked at Lady and Lucky and tried to avoid all eye contact with Patch. She felt horrible that she betrayed him, but she realized that she couldn't abandon her family anymore. Scamp and Angel stood on the desk, waiting. Then Patch looked at Scamp and Angel and sighed, "Well, let's leave without them," and Scamp and Angel nodded. The three puppies then jumped off of the desk and onto the window ledge next to the cardboard.

"I don't understand," Lady sighed slowly.

"It's such a pity," Angel smirked sarcastically, "That… there isn't a window here anymore."

And taking a lunge, they broke through Horace and Jasper's cardboard and jumped out the window.

"No, don't go!" Lady cried frantically, but by then, the puppies had already reached the ground.

"Let's hurry," Scamp breathed hurriedly. "Dad can get here pretty fast," he warned.

"We're nearly there," Patch whispered, but just as they got to the fence, Cruella emerged from the house. She gasped and sprinted at the puppies, "Jasper! Horace! They're trying to escape! The fen…"

But it was too late. The three puppies jumped through the hole in the fence that the parents created, and they were now out of Cruella's house.

"Wahoo!" Scamp declared happily. "Let's go find a place to live on our own now!"

"Great job, tenderfoot!" Angel told him delightedly. "I think you have… graduated."

And the three puppies, flushed with victory, laughed as they escaped with triumph.


	23. A Trio No More

DISCLAIMER: Lady and the Tramp, 101 Dalmatians, and their worlds belong to Disney.

Chapter 23- A Trio No More

The morning after the show, and Roger, Anita, Nanny, Jim Dear, and Darling decided to go out to look for all their dogs who ran away. Roger and Anita left Rolly and Cadpig, the only dogs they had that did not run away, at Jim Dear and Darling's house. Aunt Sarah, though thoroughly disgruntled, agreed to babysit Rolly and Cadpig, along with Annette, Danielle, and Collette. Luckily for the puppies, Jim Dear and Darling insisted for Jock and Trusty to stay in the house to monitor them.

It was a rainy morning at Jim Dear and Darling's house. The puppies were in an upstairs room that was largely empty, apart from storage boxes, puppy beds and a desk facing the window. Annette sighed as she sadly sat on the desk and stared out the window. Her humiliating performance at the dog show still weighed heavily on her mind. She had been sitting there for hours, crying softly. Collette was pretending to be asleep, and she cried into her paw. Like Annette, Collette was also heavily thinking about her bad performance at the dog show.

Annette caught Collette's eye, and saw that she was awake. She sadly told her, "You are really sad too, aren't you Collette?"

Collette nodded sadly, and she joined Annette on the desk. "More than you could possibly imagine," she replied.

"I don't like this," Annette told Collette in between sobs. "We've really done awful… all that work… and now, we don't have our family home! I miss Mom and Dad, and I even miss Scamp and Angel, don't you?"

"Yeah," Collette sighed. "It was fun at first, but now I'm beginning to miss them too. I just wish they'd come home, I want them back!"

"I miss Mother and Father too," Rolly sighed, joining the conversation. "And I'm hungry. I want more food! I don't get as much food here, I must have lost two pounds on this trip! I'm so hungry I could eat, well, two elephants!"

"Why did Lucky, Penny, and Patch have to leave?" Cadpig asked sadly. "I'm lonely here without them!"

"Calm down, little ones," Trusty told them in his reassuring low drawl.

Danielle sighed. She just woke up. She stood up excitedly, and told Annette and Collette, "Hey girls, it's just a show."

Annette and Collette looked incredulously at their sister. "What do you mean, it's just a show!" Annette whimpered.

"We've spent weeks on this, don't you remember?" Collette told Danielle.

"It doesn't matter," Danielle told them breezily. "You're complaining about nothing important!"

"Nothing… important?" Annette sniveled. "I don't understand… aren't you upset about anything? Don't you at least want Mom and Dad to come back?"

"Oh, of course I miss Scamp and Angel and Mom and Dad. But they'll come back," Danielle told the others brightly, strutting through the room. "But let's have some fun in the mean time."

"How could you think about fun?" Rolly told Danielle. "Aren't you starving yet?"

"It's not hard to get food," Danielle told Rolly. "My brother Scamp showed me where all the biscuits are stashed!"

"Really?" Rolly asked, excited. His tummy growled again. "Show me the food!"

"Okay then," Danielle told Rolly. Jock looked concernedly at Danielle.

"Lassie, don't go starting trouble!" Jock told Danielle warningly.

"Oh, I'm just having fun! And Rolly wouldn't mind, would you?" Danielle asked.

"No!" Rolly exclaimed. "I'm starving!"

"Hmph! You stupid slob!" Annette told Danielle condescendingly. "I don't go and steal food."

But Danielle didn't listen. "Here, I'll help you," Danielle excitedly told Rolly, and she bounded down the stairs, with Rolly quickly waddling behind her. When she got to the main landing, she decided to wait for Rolly, who was just beginning to walk down the stairs. She looked outside through the stained glass window next to the landing. Even though it was raining, Danielle couldn't help but admire the wide world outside of her house.

Rolly finally reached the landing, and together Danielle and Rolly walked down the stairs and entered the tiled kitchen. There was a little door in the kitchen corner, which Danielle led Rolly to.

"Okay Rolly, this is how you do it," Danielle told Rolly energetically. She had seen Scamp and Angel open that little door many times before, and now she was eager to try herself. She flipped down a little handle, and there, in a little crawlspace, was a bag of biscuits.

"I can't fit!" Rolly complained, staring longingly into the small hole.

"I'll get them for you," Danielle told Rolly.

Danielle crawled into the little dark space, dragged out the biscuit bag, and opened it up. Rolly's jaw dropped as biscuits tumbled onto the ground. He licked his lips, and then voraciously began to eat. Just as he started, Cadpig, Jock, Trusty, Annette, and Collette entered the kitchen. They all gasped as Rolly began to eat and Danielle shut the door to the crawlspace.

"Rolly, are you really going to eat all those biscuits?" Cadpig asked. "Gluttony is one of the seven deadly sins!"

"Yup," Rolly answered simply, swallowing three biscuits at once.

"Oh, he's gross!" Annette whispered to Collette.

"Yeah," Collette whispered back. "He's disgusting."

"No he's not," Danielle told them, rushing toward her two sisters. "He's just hungry. And it was fun! To get that bag out… wow, it was awesome!"

Rolly nodded, now eating his tenth biscuit. "More food!" he exclaimed, swallowing another biscuit.

"Lassie, you really shouldn't have done that," Jock scolded Danielle.

"That's right," Trusty told her.

"You don't need to make him fatter," Collette told Danielle.

"Why not?" Danielle asked back.

"Because it's against the rules," Annette told Danielle back.

Just then, the dogs heard footsteps. Rolly froze, and then ran toward the other puppies. Then Aunt Sarah entered the kitchen. She stared at the scene before her, and gasped.

"Merciful heavens! Look at this mess!" she exclaimed, staring at the biscuits on the floor. Walking by her were her two Siamese cats, Si and Am. They delighted in the atmosphere of trouble.

"All right then, who did it?" Aunt Sarah asked.

The puppies remained silent. Si and Am began to walk through the kitchen and they stopped to sniff each puppy. Rolly took a drink to try to clear the stench of biscuits from his mouth. The cats took only a few seconds to sniff him, then they ignored him. But then the Siamese Cats went to sniff Danielle.

"Ooh, a spi-dah!" Si exclaimed.

"Naughty naughty," Am added.

Danielle gasped. She realized that there must have been spiders in that crawlspace and one must have fallen onto her back. Si and Am loudly yowled, placing their paws on Danielle's back.

"So, you're the thief!" Aunt Sarah yelled.

Danielle smiled guiltily. Annette and Collette glared at Danielle and Rolly breathed a sigh of relief.

I'm going to get a chain now," Aunt Sarah told Danielle, and she went upstairs.  
There was silence in the kitchen. Rolly uncertainly walked toward the biscuits again. Danielle nervously chuckled as she looked at her sisters, both of whom were glaring at her.

"You're a disgrace!" Annette shouted to Danielle.

"You're acting just like Scamp and Angel now!" Collette added.

"Yeah, you're breaking the rules!" Annette told Danielle.

"I don't care about stupid rules!" Danielle told her sisters.

"Then you're not one of us!" Collette shouted at Danielle.

"Fine, I'm not!" Danielle shouted. Then she took a run out of the kitchen, and into the front room. "I'm not one of you anymore, and I'm not going to put up with any more stupid rules either!" she shouted.

Jock and Trusty realized what she was going to do just before she did it. "Come back, Danielle!" Jock shouted.

"Yeah, Miss Danielle," Trusty told her.

But Danielle jumped through the front dog door just as Aunt Sarah was coming down with the chain. Danielle happily looked at her surroundings and felt the raindrops tickle her back and saw the fresh, green grass covered with dew. Today was a new day for her. And she hollered in excitement as she ran down the front steps on her own. She was free, for the first time in her life!


	24. Do Not Enter

DISCLAIMER: Lady and the Tramp, 101 Dalmatians, and their worlds belong to Disney.

Chapter 24- Do Not Enter

Breathing heavily and filled with triumph, Scamp, Angel, and Patch happily ran away from Cruella's nightmare manor and tore off down the street, and they saw that Cruella's house was getting smaller and smaller by the second. The three puppies had completely lost Cruella and their parents, and they were very happy about that.

"Hee hee hee!" Scamp cheered excitedly. "We're free! Did you see that look on my mom's face?"

"Yeah, I know," Angel laughed. "I'm happy that we're rid of them."

"And Cruella's probably going crazy right now," Patch laughed. "We fooled her again, and this time, with no help from the parents!" He then stopped laughing and asked, "Do you know of somewhere where we can go?"

"No, not really," Angel told him, shaking her head. "I don't know where we are."

"Well, let's keep running then," Patch told the others. "The farther we go from Cruella and our parents, the better off we'll be. Of course, they won't be able to keep up with us."  
"I don't know," Scamp told Patch worriedly, turning a corner. "Pop was a street dog, and he runs pretty fast. He caught me once when I tried to run away from him."

"Don't worry. Lucky will slow them down," Patch answered. "He can't run far, actually, he can't walk far either."

"What do you mean?" Angel asked.

"On that journey we had to escape Cruella the first time, Dad carried him through the snow, the ice, and everything else," Patch explained. "But now he's a bit big for that. He'll probably just slow them down."

"That's good!" Scamp laughed with relief.

The puppies continued to run down the streets at top speed, tired but still filled with enthusiasm from their success. They passed many large manors and estates which were lined on either side of the street. Like Cruella's, they were old, though these were less scary.

"I bet you want to find a home here," Scamp told Angel.

Angel didn't respond to Scamp and looked down at the ground silently in thought. She then sniffed the air and told Scamp and Patch, "You know, I think we're safe!"

"Yeah," Patch sighed as they stopped by a large fence in order to take a break from running. The three puppies looked back, and they were happy to see that their parents were still not on their trail. "We don't have to deal with Cruella anymore."

"Yes, but it's even better than that," Angel told Patch. "There are no dogcatchers here. I know their route. This place is too quiet and orderly for them. They wouldn't be able to do their job here. There won't be enough dogs to catch, or so they think."

"You're kidding!" Scamp shouted, smiling in delight.

"You are so smart!" Patch gasped toward Angel.

"Thanks, I guess I just know from experience," Angel replied modestly.

They walked the fence, and they began to leave the manors and estates behind them. They continued running for a little while longer, and suddenly they stopped and gasped.

"Wow, what's this?" Scamp asked.

There, before them, was a large gate that was cracked slightly open. A sign above read, "Do Not Enter."

"Oh, wow," Angel told Scamp and Patch happily. "This place... it must be the haunted junkyard! None of the junkyard dogs dared to go in here. I remember Buster told us scary things about this place."

"Why's it haunted?" Scamp asked.

"They say that there are ghosts here," Angel told Scamp. "Only thing is…"

"That there are not!" Patch answered immediately, and Angel nodded. She added, "They're just false rumors. I know that because Mama stayed here once ages ago. She told me all about this place. And she never mentioned ghosts. So I figured that Buster just told us lies to scare us."

"Why didn't you go, then?" Scamp asked.

"There were dogcatchers on the journey from the junkyard to here," Angel explained. "And I wouldn't have had any protection, at least as a junkyard dog there was safety in numbers. And Buster figured out I knew the truth when I didn't seem scared. He threatened to kick me out if I entered this place, and he was hinting that he'd kill me if I actually entered."

"Why wouldn't he want you here?" Patch asked curiously.

Scamp laughed aloud. "Only one way to find out! This place sounds like a great hideout!"

"And we don't need to care about what Buster thinks anyway," Angel told Scamp and Patch brightly.

"Let's go in!" Patch declared.

Scamp pushed the gate open, and it budged easily. The three puppies then looked through the crack in the gate, and gasped. There were hats and pillows to chew, couches to jump on, bones to bury, several balls to play with, and even a pile of junk with a slide at the top. It looked a little bit like the old junkyard, except they had all the really fun toys, and it was far more neatly arranged. They all panted happily and hurried up to examine their new toys.

"Wahoo!" Scamp cheered in delight, scurrying and kicking a ball. "Hey, look at this place! It's no wonder Buster didn't want you guys to see this place! This place looks awesome…"

"Mama never said that the place was this fun!" Angel cheered excitedly while ripping up a hat.

"I never got this much when I had to be with ninety eight other puppies!" Patch smiled, chewing a chew toy.

Then Scamp looked up, and smiled. "Hey!" he told Angel and Patch excitedly. "We should live here! We can have fun, and have no rules! And live…" then Scamp stopped, and he remembered how much Angel wanted a family. Then he looked down and muttered, "Oh, never mind, you wouldn't want that, would you, Angel? You want a family, I suppose…"

But Angel didn't respond right away. She just stared at the ground. Then she muttered, "Hmm… Tenderfoot, I was being stupid. You had it right all along. We don't need a family after all."

"Yeah," Scamp muttered, before gasping, "Wha? Angel… I never thought you'd ever say that."

"The truth can hurt. But I know it now. I don't belong to any family," Angel explained. "I should've known. All my families have had problems. Each family gets worse and worse. And now we've just dealt with…"

"A mad old hag who is after our skins," Patch finished bluntly. "I'd love to live on my own, I can be my own puppy for once," Patch told Scamp and Angel, chasing a butterfly, "And I don't have to be stuck in a sea of spots."

Then Scamp turned to Angel. "What about your mother? Don't you want to find her?"

"She knows this place, so she'll probably turn up," Angel told Scamp. "And I'll tell her it's better to live together out here than to find a family."

Scamp smiled in disbelief. "You two… mean it?" Scamp asked. "You mean… you really mean it?"

Patch and Angel nodded excitedly. "This is our place!" Patch declared.

"Woo-hoo-hoo-hoo!" Scamp hollered. "This is gonna be the best! We're junk…" but then, Angel shook her head.

"No, we're not," Angel told Scamp firmly. "We're much better than that, Scamp."

"Yeah," Patch told them. "Let's have fun and always be there for each other!"

"Great idea!" Scamp told the others, and they held out their paws and smiled at each other. The three puppies then spent the day having a lot of fun. They started out by racing up the pile of junk and standing on a platform at the top overlooking their new home, marveling at the sight of it and happily barking. Then they slid down the slide and proceeded with many other fun activities, including playing tag, kicking a ball back and forth, hiding behind the furniture, play fighting, and then, when the stars began to emerge, chasing fireflies.

"I'm getting tired," Scamp yawned well after it became dark outside. "Let's go to sleep." He sighed, then smiled, "This is the life!"

"Yeah," Patch yawned. "Good night, Scamp, Angel."

And the three puppies smiled at each other and happily went to sleep.

The next morning, the three puppies woke up even hungrier than before. They haven't eaten anything in two days, apart from Scamp's stolen ham sandwich. But now, without the immediate threat of Cruella to preoccupy them and as the novelty of settling down in a new home wore off, the puppies began to notice their hunger.

"Uh…" Scamp groaned. "I'm getting hungry."

"Me too," Angel yawned.

"Let's fix that up," Patch told Angel and Scamp. Then his eyes turned. "Hey, look over there!" Patch exclaimed.

There, sitting in the corner of the yard, was an open sack of soot lying in a barrel.

"Watch this!" Patch exclaimed. Patch rolled in the soot. He came out all black, and then smiled. "I'm going to sneak out and get us some food. Mom and Dad might recognize me, but I can get away from them. They'll be stuck with Lucky. And your parents wouldn't recognize me."

"Right," Scamp and Angel answered, and Patch snuck through a crack in the fence.

Scamp and Angel sat there in the corner, and breathed in the fresh air happily.

"This is living!" Scamp excitedly cheered.

"Yeah, I know!" Angel told Scamp. She chased her tail and caught it with her mouth. But then, Scamp looked into the soot bag and gasped. He told Angel, "Hey look!"

Angel walked over to the soot barrel to see what Scamp was talking about and gasped. There were some brownish furs in there mixed with the black soot. "I wonder who those could come from," she wondered. But then she heard another noise.

"Oh no!" Angel gasped. "I hear someone coming!"

"Let's hope its Patch," Scamp told Angel nervously, but by then, someone was already pawing open the gate.


	25. An Unexpected Reunion

Chapter 25—An Unexpected Reunion

Scamp and Angel nervously stood on the side of the barrel with the soot, not daring to move in order to remain hidden. They looked at each other tensely, waiting for their visitor to pass. Then, abruptly, a loud, whooping holler emerged from the entrance of the yard. Scamp and Angel quickly figured out that the voice was that of a tomboy's. "Woohoo! This place is awesome, look at all these toys! And maybe we can find some steak scraps from your steakhouse in the trash here! That steak was the best!"

"They always serve it like that," a boy's voice cheerfully replied. "It's really good stuff. It probably almost tastes like house food. I just wish they'd give us baths too."

The tomboy replied, even louder than before. "Nah… I've heard of house food. It's so awful! And baths aren't that great..."

"How'd you know about baths?" the boy asked.

"Oh, just cause!" the tomboy laughed loudly, and with a note of discomfort. "But this stuff…it's the best!"

The voices drew louder and louder. Suddenly, the voices grew so loud that Scamp and Angel could hear every word perfectly. The two of them heard the puppies' footsteps approach closer and closer, but they were trapped, if they moved, they would certainly be discovered. The tomboy spoke again, "That food was awesome, I think… huh?"

Scamp and Angel gasped. Standing in front of them was a little brown puppy who looked awfully familiar. She was accompanied by a black and grey puppy who had long, very furry black ears, a short black tail, large green eyes, and a light grey body covered with dark grey speckles. She then stuttered, "Wh…wh…aah! Run!"

"Hey, why?" asked the black and grey puppy.

Then, Scamp and Angel gasped. They recognized who the brown dog was. But they could only barely recognize her, for her diamond-shaped tag was dangling dangerously off of her white collar. She was far muddier than they could've ever imagined. Her once perfectly clean coat grew untidy and matted, and she had a piece of steak stuck in between her teeth.

"It's Danielle!" Scamp gasped to Angel.

"How did she find us?" Angel asked worriedly.

"Yeah, how did you find us?" Danielle shouted abruptly.

"Dani, how do they know you?" Danielle's friend asked.

"He's my brother Scamp," Danielle told her friend. "And she's his girlfriend, Angel."

Scamp then turned to Danielle and asked, "So tell me, where are Mom and Dad?"

"You're gonna tell on me, aren't you? And you'd know that, not me!" Danielle answered indignantly. "How'd I know? I'm a runaway!"

"You ran away from home? But… you didn't tell me!" Danielle's friend asked her incredulously.

"Yup," Danielle answered simply, chuckling. Her friend rolled his eyes.

Scamp and Angel were speechless. They stared at each other for a few seconds. During that time, the puppies didn't hear any footsteps approaching the yard. Then Scamp uncertainly stepped forward, and asked Danielle, "You mean… you've had enough?"

"That's right!" Danielle shouted passionately. "I'm sick of being a prissy girl. I'm sick of stupid rules. I'm sick of baths. I'm tired of being with my whiny sisters. And no chains for me! I'm done with it all. I'm off on my own!"

"What happened to you?" Scamp asked, bewildered.

Angel stared at Danielle curiously. "I didn't know you ever felt this way," she marveled.

"Hey, you two had it right from the get go," Danielle said simply. "I heard you two talking about your adventures. I've heard Dad talk to you two about his. You two were going to have fun yourselves. I want to have fun and be free too. And it's been a blast!" Danielle chuckled. "I've been only out for two days. But I now have a boyfriend!"

"Don't say my name, Dani, don't," Danielle's boyfriend interrupted.

"And we didn't run away for fun," Angel told Danielle.

Then all of a sudden, Patch returned. He was still covered with soot, and he was carrying some sausages. "Scamp, Angel, I, uh got…"

Then he paused. He nervously looked at Danielle and her boyfriend, and asked, "Who are they?"

"Oh, I'm Danielle," Danielle friendlily bounded up to Patch. "Scamp's sister."

"You're coming to take us home, aren't you?" Patch told Danielle suspiciously.

"No!" Danielle shouted as her boyfriend sighed and shook his head. "I'm a runaway puppy. And he's my boyfriend, Puffball. Oh, oops…" Danielle hung her head guiltily

Puffball frowned, and then hurriedly explained, "Hey, I didn't pick that name! It was those mean street dogs…I'm no puffball…"

"Yeah you are," Danielle smiled affectionately. "You're such a cute little…"

"Hey, stop it! That's enough!" Puffball gasped, looking thoroughly embarrassed.

Danielle chuckled, and continued, "We met on the street. Then we found this great steak place where we fell in love. And now we found this cool place. Enough about us, what about you?"

"Didn't Mom and Pop talk to you all about us?" Scamp asked.

"Nope," Danielle answered simply.

"Cowards," Angel muttered.

"My sisters and I thought you were just pulling a prank so Mom and Dad couldn't watch us in the show," Danielle told them.

"Well, I'll tell you why we really ran away, and it isn't a prank. We ran away because your father is a lying and heartbreaking jerk. We found out from my real mother everything about him," Angel told Danielle.

"So, that is the reason?" Danielle gasped as Puffball looked skeptically at Angel. "Oh, never mind. Mom told me then. I thought it was some sorta joke."

"Then they found me," Patch told Danielle and Puffball. "My name's Patch, and I ran away too. But we all got caught by this vicious old hag who wants to skin us. We escaped yesterday. Only thing is, we're still being followed. That woman, her name is Cruella De Vil, she's after us. She followed us all the way from London. And our parents are still after us too, along with two of my siblings. They ran away with me, but they became traitors," Patch explained, then he sighed at the gate. "I still can't believe that Penny actually left me. Figures about Lucky though, everyone knows Lucky is dad's favorite kid."

Scamp meanwhile, couldn't help but to stare at the sausages. He exclaimed, "Hey, let's eat!"

"I'll eat later," Puffball explained. "I just had steak with Dani. I need some exercise. 'Scuse me!"

"Oh, I'll eat!" Danielle told Scamp, Angel, and Patch eagerly as Puffball ran off, and the four of them happily ate the sausages.

"Hey," Angel told Danielle when she finished her sausage. She held out a paw. "Let's all live on our own together."

"So… you're serious?" Danielle asked.

"We think it's weirder for you to run away," Scamp told Danielle, and Angel nodded.

"Oh all right then," Danielle nodded, and they all agreed, and the four of them, rejoined by Puffball after a while, had another day's worth of fun and games in their new playground. Late in the evening, Puffball remembered something that he had to do something he forgot about, and so he ran off again. Scamp, Angel, Patch, and Danielle meanwhile continued to play games and finally went to sleep well after their bedtime at home.

The next morning, the puppies woke up early. Puffball rejoined them in their sleep. "Morning," Patch sighed. "I'm hungry. Who wants to get the sausages?"

"I'll get them," Puffball volunteered brightly. Then, he took off once again.

"Mmm… this is just awesome!" Scamp sighed as he looked at the yard. "Let's have some fun!"

The four puppies had a playfight over a pillow, tugging it back and forth. Then they had a rope war, pitting Scamp and Angel against Danielle and Patch. The puppies play growled with intensity, and they all tugged on the rope as hard as they could.

"We're not letting go," Scamp warned Patch.

"No, we're not either!" Patch yelled.

"Of course not!" Danielle yowled. "We're not finished yet!"

But then, Angel gasped. She put down the rope. And then she muttered, "Yeah, we are."

"What do you mean?" Scamp asked. The other three puppies all put down the rope.

"Look who it is," Angel growled in a threatening voice.

Danielle, Scamp, and Patch turned. There, standing in front of them, was Pongo. He was walking over to them.

"That's your dad, right?" Angel asked Patch.

"Yeah," Patch grumbled. "That's him all right."

"Hi kids," Pongo told them. "Long time, no see."

You're not going to make us go home with you, so don't even try it," Patch warned. Then he and the other three puppies leered at Pongo and growled threateningly at him.


	26. Patch's Decision

DISCLAIMER: Lady and the Tramp, 101 Dalmatians, and their worlds belong to Disney.

Chapter 26—Patch's Decision

There was a pause as the runaway puppies continued to glare and growl at Pongo. Pongo stood still and looked down at the four puppies. He tried not to get discouraged by the bad welcome he got from them, and he tried his hardest to smile. "How are you all doing out here?" Pongo asked brightly.

The puppies didn't answer Pongo. Instead, they hurried over to a couch in the middle of the yard with a small hole underneath, and they crawled under the couch into the hole. "We're not going home," Scamp told Pongo fervently. "You can't make us! We'll never leave!"

"Dad, why are you even here?" Patch asked. "I'm not coming home with you. Maybe you got Lucky to come back. But at your place, it's always Lucky this, Lucky that anyway."

"Patch, what do you mean?" Pongo asked.

"You guys always favor Lucky," Patch complained. "You let him get the front spot when watching TV, you carry him when the rest of us have to walk and you didn't even believe it was him who pushed me into the fireplace first!" Patch complained. "He gets away with everything! And I know why you took us to the show. You guys wanted Lucky to be the star once again and just have us be there because we're his brothers and sisters. That's why you paid all that attention bathing him and everything, isn't it? And that's why you blamed me and locked me up in the dark and not him! Well I've had enough. Dad, I just don't belong with you guys. The four of us belong together," Patch indicated to Scamp, Angel, and Danielle. "We all want to stay here, have adventure and fun, and live on our own."

"We don't favor Lucky, we love all of you very much. We try our best, but sometimes we don't see things the same way. I understand that you might get upset at us sometimes," Pongo said gently. "But Patch, if you stay here, well... remember that you'll never be able to see us again. We're going back to London in a couple of days. You'll never be able to see your ninety-eight brothers and sisters…"

"That's the problem," Patch explained to Pongo. "Dad, I just can't be my own puppy at your place. I'm just a number, one of the ninety-nine puppies. I want to be somewhere where I belong, and I found it right here with Scamp, Angel, and Danielle. We're staying here. And we're not leaving."

Pongo then told Patch, "Penny would miss you very much."

"Yeah, well then she shouldn't have betrayed me," Patch told Pongo bitterly. "If she cared about me, she wouldn't have gone with Scamp's mom."

Pongo sighed and shook his head. He then cleared his throat and said, "Look children, your parents…"

"I've had it with my parents!" Scamp shouted. "Every day at my place, it's rules, rules, rules, don't do this, don't do that… and I'm lied to every day!"

"They're not even my family!" Angel told Pongo angrily. "They don't care for me at all! My mama told me all about that Tramp. He broke her heart! And mine too!"

"Your adopted parents care for you like you were their own daughter," Pongo explained to Angel, who just sighed skeptically. "And your mother…"

"Look!" Danielle interrupted. "Why can't you just all leave us alone! We can just have fun here, you know!"

"Well, at home, you can…" Pongo began, but he was interrupted by the gate doors opening again. Entering through the gate was Tramp. He was being closely followed by Lady and Perdita. They all hurried into the yard and joined Pongo, who looked relieved to see them arrive.

"Oh Pongo! I'm afraid we're too late!" Perdita gasped.

"Don't worry Perdy," Pongo told Perdita consolingly. "They're right here under the couch."

"Oh, thank heavens!" Perdita sighed in relief. "Pongo, may I talk to them now?"

"Sure Perdy," Pongo answered, and he moved away from the couch, allowing Perdita to take his place. Perdita nodded gratefully to Pongo, and then she walked over to the couch and bent down to talk to the puppies.

"Morning children," Perdita told the puppies brightly. But then she gasped. "Oh Pongo! There's a fourth puppy!"

"A fourth?" Lady asked worriedly. She crawled next to Perdita and peered below the couch too. She gasped as she got up. "Oh no… Danielle! Don't tell me you ran away too?"

"I sure did," Danielle laughed.

"I'm afraid I don't understand… why did you run away?" Lady asked.

"I've had it!" Danielle shouted toward Lady. "I'm sick of being one of the three sisters. It's all being prissy and having baths and being spoiled. I've had enough of these dog shows! I want fun and adventure, wahoo!"

"Danielle…" Lady sighed. "I don't understand why you'd just run off like that."

"Your boyfriend wouldn't want you to be hurt out here," Tramp told Danielle. Then, Danielle gasped. "How d'ya know about my boyfriend?"

"Well, uh," Tramp began nervously. Then Scamp gasped, "It was him! He spilled on us!"

Tramp realized he had no choice but to tell them. "Your friend Puffball cares for you a lot," Tramp explained. Then he heard a creak in the gate behind him, and smiled. "Speaking of him, I think that's him right now!"

Sure enough, the gate swung open, and Puffball entered the junkyard. He was happily chatting with Penny and Lucky, who followed him inside.

Tramp rushed up to them, and he told Puffball, "Look, you've got to talk to them. I've slipped up, and they uh, figured out you did it."

Puffball groaned, but then he shut his eyes, cleared his throat, and bent down next to the couch. "Hi guys," Puffball smiled at them brightly.

"You really are a puffball!" Angel shouted at him.

"Why'd you tell on us?" Danielle asked sadly.

"I didn't want to do it, Dani, but...I felt that all puppies that have homes should be at them," Puffball explained. Then he looked at the puppies and told them firmly, "None of you housedogs would understand! It's a dangerous world out on the streets! I've been out here for months ever since my parents abandoned me when I was just a baby. I have to steal food and avoid dogcatchers every day, and deal with these mean gangs of street dogs. You novices would never understand what a life on the streets is like. You've all had cushy, happy lives with a family. When I found out you guys have families, I just had to let them know! You just can't live out here. You're all housedogs, and you need to go back home where you belong. The streets are too dangerous. I've had a hard life! And sorry to be blunt, but you'd just never understand because you have such easy lives!"

"Oh? You think I've had an easy life," Angel told Puffball scathingly. "Well, for your information, puffy, I had to grow up in the pound with a dead father and a heartsick mother. Then I finally got a home. And they threw me out. And I got another. I got thrown out there too. It happened five times! I ended up meeting this terrible-street dog named Buster…"

Puffball jumped back in alarm. "You knew Buster?" he asked Angel, terrified.

Angel nodded. "I had no choice but to live with him, and on top of all that I had to fend for myself and avoid dogcatchers for months. Call that an easy life?"

"It sounds rough," Puffball conceded. "But…"

"I had it bad too!" Scamp told him. "I didn't spend as much time on the streets as Angel did, but I got sent to the pound. And I had this vicious street-dog named Reggie try to kill me!"

"But that's impossible," Puffball told Scamp skeptically. "You couldn't have met Reggie."

"Well, I did!" Scamp told him.

"And my life was hard too!" Patch yelled. "This mad old hag has wanted to skin me for my whole life! She chased us from London to get our coats, and she's following us this very moment!"

"We know how dangerous a street life is," Scamp told Puffball.

"But we're not going back!" Angel shouted.

"Okay, you had hard lives, but still, you have to go back home," Puffball replied stubbornly. Then his expression softened and he told them, "But I'm sorry for misunderstanding your lives. I just… thought you lived like Danielle. She's never been out before. Want to come home, Danielle?"

"Uh…" Danielle told the others, looking confused. "I don't know."

"Come on Danielle, you've changed from that," Angel told her. "Just stay here with us."

"You want to live your own life now, don't you?" Scamp asked. "And have a great time with us?"

"Danielle," Lady told her gently. "We have a loving home for you. Jim Dear and Darling care about you very much. So do Tramp and I. And so do your sisters."

Danielle sighed. She looked at her parents. Then she looked at her fellow runaways. She sighed. "I don't know what to do!"

"Danielle," Lady told her. "If you come with us… well, we'll not treat you like Annette and Collette anymore. It's just you never told us you didn't like to live like them. We misunderstood you… I'm sorry, Danielle. We'll let you out some times, won't we Tramp?"

"Yeah, sure thing, Danielle," Tramp told her.

Scamp spat on the ground. "You're picking favorites!"

"Of course she'd be your favorite!" Angel told Lady. "She looks just like you. She walks like you. And she's your child!"

"But Scamp, Angel, we'll let you out too," Lady told them.

"Then why haven't you?" Scamp asked.

"Why haven't you, either, dad?" Patch asked.

None of the parents said anything for a while. Scamp, Angel, and Patch stared expectantly at their parents. Penny, Lucky, and Puffball also watched the parents with great interest.

The four parents stood up, huddled together, and whispered to each other. They looked anxiously toward the gate, and then Pongo shook his head. Only Danielle could be heard in the expectant silence, for she was feverishly debating to herself on whether she should stay or go.

Scamp and Angel looked at Danielle. "Remember," Scamp told Danielle. "Don't trust them. They lie to us all the time."

Danielle didn't reply right away. But the puppies were distracted by the parents, who just finished whispering. Pongo then walked over to the couch and crouched down next to the puppies.

"Okay," Pongo told Patch. "I'll tell you why Perdy and I didn't let you out. It was because of Cruella."

"But I thought she went to jail?" Patch asked confusedly.

"She did," Pongo explained. "But you know what she's like and how clever is. We knew that she would do anything to get out, and that sooner or later, she'd escape. We all knew it. Roger, Anita, Perdy, and I. Perdy and I didn't want to scare you, so we didn't tell you anything about our fears and tried to let you enjoy your life. But we became even more concerned when we saw Horace and Jasper's truck pass by our plantation several times. That's why Perdy sometimes told you all to evacuate to the barn, because their truck was passing by."

"Right," Perdita told Patch, bending down to speak to him. "Roger, Pongo, Anita, and I went out for a walk one day, and saw their truck parked next to a house on a nearby street. We all thought they were robbing it, but we had no way to prove it. Unfortunately, they saw us walking by and drove away, so now they knew where we lived. We wanted to keep you and your brothers and sisters safe and so we pretended that you didn't live at the plantation anymore. That's why we always hid you and made sure you didn't leave home."

"So… you really do care for us, don't you?" Patch asked.

"We care for you so much," Pongo told Patch. "That's why we rescued you from Cruella and moved to the plantation, and that's why we're out here right now."

"We care for you more than anything in the world," Perdita told Patch.

Patch sighed. He looked at Perdita and Pongo. "Thanks for all you've done," Patch muttered. "And I guess I love you…but…"

"He's coming with us!" Penny whispered to Lucky, her eyes brightening excitedly.

"Yeah, I know!" Lucky told Penny happily.

"But what?" Perdita asked slowly.

"But I can't walk out on Scamp and Angel. They need me, and I need them," Patch explained. "The three of us have been through so much together… and I can't just abandon them. We've promised to always be there for each other."

Penny and Lucky gasped. Scamp and Angel smiled at Patch. Pongo and Perdita looked at each other concernedly.

Then, Pongo muttered, "Well Patch, if that's really how you feel about things… just remember that we'll never forget you."


	27. Family Feud

DISCLAIMER: Lady and the Tramp, 101 Dalmatians, and their worlds belong to Disney.

Chapter 27—Family Feud

There was silence after Patch's decision. After a few seconds, Penny began to cry and she sighed, "Patch, I can't believe I'm not going to see you again!"

Puffball, who was standing next to Penny, just shook his head at Patch and opened his mouth. He then walked over to Patch, and shouted, "You little spoiled brat! Your family cares for you so much...and you're just staying with a couple of puppies you only met a couple days back!"

"You wouldn't understand," Patch told Puffball. "I know that my parents love us for being one of their children, but Scamp and Angel love me for who I am."

Pongo and Perdita whispered to each other. Then Perdita nodded. She and Pongo then whispered to Lady and Tramp. Then, at last, Pongo told Patch, "See you son."

And with that, the parents left the yard, with Puffball, Lucky, and Penny following them.

"They left us?" Scamp asked, confused.

"They can't be gone yet," Angel replied.

Angel was right. The parents and the puppies that stood with them stood outside the gate of the junkyard. "I don't understand," Lady cried softly. "Why are they this stubborn, anyway? Oh, I feel awful… what have I done wrong? They must hate me…"

"Don't worry, they don't hate you," Perdita told Lady consolingly. "They just don't know what it's like to be a parent and they don't realize how much we care about them."

"But I just want to keep them safe," Lady cried. "And bring them back to our loving home."

"Pidge, I don't know if we can do anything," Tramp sighed. "It looks like they really hate us. Maybe we should let them go."

Lady sighed. She could tell from Tramp's tone of voice that he had something else on his mind. "Tramp," she told him, looking at him seriously. "I… think you just don't want to tell them."

Tramp shook his head, and smiled. "You win," Tramp told Lady uncomfortably. "But… I don't want to talk about it. You see, er… I'm ashamed of some things I did in my past, and uh, Angel would never forgive me if I told her… I don't even know if I told you everything, Pidge, and I don't want my past to hurt you anymore."

"Tramp," Pongo told him. "You have to tell them your story. Otherwise, they would think that you're not sorry for what you did. If you don't tell them, they might never trust you again and they might just hate you forever."

Perdita looked at Lady worriedly. Lady opened her mouth, but then, she smiled at Tramp. "Tramp, you've proven that you're faithful to me for months now," she told him brightly. "And I… well, I'll stand with you no matter what you'll say."

Tramp told Lady, "Thanks Pigeon," and he felt a lot better.

"Lucky, Penny?" Pongo asked.

"Yes Father?" Lucky replied.

"Watch over the other puppies for us," Pongo told him. "And make sure they don't leave."

"Right," Lucky told Pongo, and he walked back into the yard. However, Penny did not follow Lucky in.

"You should watch over them too," Pongo told Penny.

"Oh, but… I don't know," Penny sighed. "I don't want to make Patch angrier at me."

"You're Patch's closest friend," Perdita reminded her. "If anyone could convince Patch to come home, it would be you. And if he comes home, he'll be appreciative that you encouraged him."

"Okay, but first, I think I should tell you what Patch and I were talking about before we ran away," Penny told Pongo and Perdita. "Maybe you two can understand some things about him."

"Oh Penny, that would be helpful!" Perdita exclaimed happily.

"So what did you two talk about?" Pongo asked.

"Well," Penny began. "Patch was complaining about how he feels like just one of his brothers and sisters in your eyes. He feels that you don't care about him as an individual at all and that you favor Lucky. He wasn't happy that you sent him to the bathroom because he feels like he's the bad kid in your eyes. He also felt like all of our brothers and sisters preferred Lucky to him except me, and now that I left him he doesn't trust me anymore, so now he feels like he has no one left. Does that help?"

Pongo and Perdita smiled gently. "Thank you Penny," Pongo told her. "It really helped."

"You're welcome," Penny smiled. "So I guess I'll just go back in and see I can persuade Patch to come back home," Penny told Pongo and Perdita, and she followed Lucky into the yard.

"What about me?" Puffball asked. "Shouldn't I be watching them too?"

"Not yet," Pongo answered. He then paused, before saying, "Perdy, Penny reminded me of something. We didn't tell Patch about Lucky," Perdita explained to Pongo.

"I was afraid of that," Perdita told him. "But we just couldn't explain in front of Lucky…"

"We have to mention it," Pongo told Perdita, who agreed.

"Hey Puffball," Tramp asked. "Where's Peg? Weren't you two going together to the yard?"

"She went off looking with me, but she told me she had some something else to do," Puffball explained.

Lady looked puzzled. "What could be more important for her than talking to her daughter?" she asked.

"I know, but she made it sound like whatever it was really important," Puffball told Lady.

"I hope she comes back soon," Lady worriedly told Puffball, "Because Angel might not listen to any of us but her…" An unpleasant thought then occurred to Lady. What if Peg no longer cared about getting Angel to come home? _Now that Angel's out of Cruella's mansion, Peg might feel that Angel is safe and she might no longer be interested in getting Angel to come home, _Lady thought. Lady shivered with that thought, for she knew that if Angel didn't want to go home Scamp wouldn't either.

"Puffball," Pongo told him, "Could you go look for Peg and then tell her that we need her help?" Pongo asked.

"Sure," Puffball told Pongo, nodding.

"And ask Lucky and Penny to go along with you," Pongo told Puffball. "There's safety in numbers, and together you might be able to find Peg faster. Plus, we need to talk to Patch without having Lucky there."

"Right," Puffball obligingly told Pongo, but then Puffball and the parents heard some growling from the yard.

"Oh no," Puffball exclaimed. He gasped… "I have to get in! It sounds like they're trying to escape!"

Puffball hurried in to the yard. Then, the parents were alone.

"Pidge," Tramp told Lady. "I'll tell… but if I did, Angel might never forgive me."

"She's already assuming the worst of you right now," Lady told Tramp. "You have nothing to lose… tell her. And remember I will always stand with you."

Tramp sighed nervously. He hated to admit it, but Lady made a lot of sense.

There were a few more moments of silence, before Pongo asked "So, ready to go?" and Lady, Tramp, and Perdita nodded.

Then, the parents walked back into the yard. Scamp, Angel, and Patch were trying to dig a hole to escape. Penny, Lucky, and Puffball, meanwhile, were trying to drag them back. Danielle stood alone, unable to make a decision.

"Patch, please don't do this!" Penny told him earnestly. "Home's really not that bad! Our parents love us so much! And I love you too!"

"If you loved me, you wouldn't have abandoned me!" Patch shouted back to Penny.

"Let us go!" Scamp shouted, digging while Lucky tried kicking dirt back into Scamp's hole, pushing Patch back in the process.

"Never!" Puffball exclaimed, biting Angel's tail as she scratched him on the nose.

The parents returned, and then Pongo and Perdita rushed up to the scrapping puppies.

"Lucky, Penny, Puffball, let go of them!" Perdita told them firmly.

Lucky, Penny, and Puffball did. Scamp, Angel and Patch looked worn from the scuffle but still glared defiantly at the parents.

"Penny, Lucky, follow Puffball," Pongo told them. And then Pongo told Puffball, "Tell Penny and Lucky what to do."

"Oh yeah, right," Puffball told Tramp. "Come on guys," Puffball told Lucky and Penny, and the three of them, whispering together, wandered off. The four runaway puppies then returned under the couch.

"You're back," Patch told them angrily. "Look, I told you. I love for you saving our lives and raising us. But… you don't love us as individuals. You just love us as part of the ninety-nine puppies. The only one you really love is Lucky."

"I need to tell you something… promise to never tell this to Lucky, okay?" Pongo asked.

"Well, all right," Patch answered. "But you think I'm going to see Lucky again. You're assuming you'll take me home."

"We're not assuming anything. It's just we didn't respond to how you felt about Lucky," Perdita told Patch. "We couldn't with Lucky standing right by us. But we can tell you now. We're very worried about Lucky," Perdita explained.

"Yes," Pongo added. "We named him Lucky because on the day he was born, we thought that he died. We were heartbroken, but he ended up surviving against the odds. Since that day, we've always been especially worried about him. You might not have seen him on that day we walked home from Cruella's…"

"I've seen him!" Patch declared. "You carried him home all the time!"

"So, yes you have," Pongo responded. "Lucky suffered from the cold and fatigue more than the rest of you. He's pretty frail, and we had to help him out. If we didn't help Lucky, we don't think he would've been able to make it."

"He's frail in other ways too," Perdita told Lucky. "Do you wonder why we were coaching him on the show? Because we were afraid he might break his leg, and we were also fearful of the effect that being rejected might have on him. This is also why we sent you to the dark instead of him. Our intent was not to punish you but to split you two up. We sent you there because Lucky is scared of the dark and would've found it a much tougher place to be than you did. You thought it was favoring Lucky, but really, we were keeping him alive, healthy and happy because he needed the most help."

Pongo and Perdita bent down and smiled at Patch. "I hope that we helped clear things up about Lucky, because he's not our favorite puppy."

"That's right," Perdita told Patch. "We love you all so much, and we don't have a favorite because all of you are so different. You're a wonderful son, Patch. Don't tell any of your brothers and sisters this, but none of them have your spunk and determination."

"I remember that day when you chewed the rug because you were imagining mauling that villain on Thunderbolt," Pongo laughed, "Moments like that just show how much personality you have. You're a one-of-a-kind dog, Patch."

"Everyone in our family cares about you," Perdita told him. "And that's not just us, but also all of your brothers and sisters. We love you and you're special to us as an individual, not just as one of the ninety-nine."

Patch was touched by Pongo's and Perdita's words. However, he shook his head and told them, "I love you too, but I can't go with you. Scamp and Angel need me, and I'm not gonna leave them."

Scamp and Angel smiled at Patch as Perdita sighed. She looked at Pongo worriedly. "Oh Pongo, what will we do?" she asked.

"Scamp, Angel," Lady told them, hurrying to the couch. Pongo and Perdita got up to allow Lady to have a closer view of her puppies. Scamp, Angel, and Danielle looked at Lady. She looked back at the gate before continuing, "I… I felt miserable when you two ran away. And Danielle…I didn't actually see you leave, but I feel horrible seeing you out now."

"Yeah right," Angel scoffed. "You two don't care for us."

"We do," Lady told her. "Why else would I run away? You know that I wouldn't run away from Jim Dear and Darling unless I felt I had to. Junior is probably crying right now because he misses me. Jim Dear and Darling must be feeling awful too, and I had to miss your sisters' dog show and leave them in the care of Jock and Trusty."

"Yeah," Danielle laughed. "And Aunt Sarah."

"Aunt Sarah?" Lady asked nervously.

"Yeah," Danielle told Lady. "And she threatened to chain me up because I stole some food!"

Lady gasped. Now she understood another reason why Danielle ran away! She sighed, "Oh… I'm so sorry… I had no idea," Lady told Danielle consolingly. "She did that to me too."

Danielle looked up at Lady, tears in her eyes. "She did?"

Lady nodded. "You know those Siamese cats?"

"Yeah!" Danielle shouted. "They framed me!"

"Well, they framed me too," Lady told her. "They made a mess and I took the blame. Aunt Sarah muzzled me up… and that's why I ran away and met Tramp," Lady explained.

"Oh… so you didn't want them to come home, did you mom?" Danielle asked.

Lady shook her head. "It's my fault though…I should've told Jock and Trusty about how horrible Aunt Sarah and those cats are…"

Danielle sighed. She smiled as she realized just how much her parents loved her. Then she got out from under the couch and told Lady, "I'll go home with you, but, I just want one thing."

"What would you want?" Lady asked gently.

"I just want some time to be with Puffball," Danielle told Lady. "I know I've only met him for a couple of days, but… well, we're boyfriend and girlfriend already, and…"

Lady smiled. She gently whispered something into Danielle's ear. Scamp, Angel, and Patch watched Danielle's eyes. First, they looked surprised. Then, they looked delighted. Then, Danielle wagged her tail and she said, "Sure mom, I'll come home!"

Scamp, Angel, and Patch stared out at Danielle disappointedly, but she didn't stare back under the couch. They knew that her mind was now set. Lady then walked back to the couch and told the puppies, "Look, I care for you all," Lady explained.

"Yeah," Scamp scoffed. "If we do what you say."

"And what do you mean by that?" Lady asked.

"You want us to act like you!" Scamp told Lady. "You've tried to make us all like yourself!" Scamp laughed. "And you're doing a good job. Two of them are acting just as prissy as you. And you won't love us until we act just like you!"

"But of course I do!" Lady told Scamp, crushed. "I… I don't know where you got that idea."

"By living with you guys," Scamp told Lady breathlessly. He sounded as though he wanted to say this for months. "Every day, you always try to teach us manners. As though we want to learn! And you kept us cooped up in that house because you want to be cooped up! You don't ever let us have the chance to go out on the street and have fun!"

"Well, I would like you to have manners," Lady told Scamp. "But… I won't force you to. And I would still love you even if you didn't. Tramp doesn't have any manners himself," Lady told Scamp. "And well, he's not exactly a gentleman, is he?" she laughed. "But I still love him anyways. And if I am confining you, it's only to keep you safe. You should know by now that the streets are very dangerous; when I met…"

"But listen to me!" Scamp interrupted. "You never do. I don't want to learn any more manners! And I don't want to be part of your confining family anymore! I'm tired of… of being pampered and cuddled and treated like I'm a month old!"

"But you're still just a pup," Lady told Scamp sadly. "I couldn't possibly…"

"Yes you can!" Scamp shouted. "Treat me for who I am!"

"Oh Scamp… I try to, but I just want to keep you safe… look what happened here?" Lady asked sadly. "You got caught."

"But we escaped," Scamp countered.

"But you nearly died," Lady argued.

"Look Mom, we can take care of ourselves," Scamp told her. "You didn't need to worry and baby us then, and you don't need to now."

Lady sighed, and told the puppies. "Maybe… you can take care of yourselves. But no matter what you might think, I really do love all of you for who you are."

"Well, maybe you do," Angel scoffed. "But even if you do, what about your husband?"

"Hey, Scamp, Angel," Tramp told them. "As your father…"

"I'm not your daughter!" Angel told Tramp fiercely. "Mama told me all about my daddy. And he's nothing like you!"

Then, Angel walked out from under the couch, and yelled, "You're just a lying, heartbreaking jerk! I'm sick of everything you've done! You broke my mother's heart!"

"Yeah!" Scamp added in, also leaving the couch. "All my life, I've had to deal with nothing else but lies from you! First you told me you were a housedog all your life. Then you promised me we could have fun together and take me out. And then you lied to me all about your romantic past. Every day it's lies, lies, lies!" Scamp shouted. He and Angel then returned under the couch.

"Hey, come on, I'm sorry," Tramp explained. "And I'm sorry I couldn't take you out… it's just that… well, your Mom didn't trust me. She'd never let me out!"

"No, I probably wouldn't have," Lady explained sadly. "I was worried for him. I was afraid of losing him for good. But if I've learned one thing on this trip, it's that your father really does care for me after all. He cares for you too. No one can take your place in his heart."

"Hey kids, if you come home, we'll let you make your own choices. You guys have showed us you can take care of yourselves. But come home, where you have a family that loves you…" Tramp began.

"You didn't even listen to what Angel said before!" Scamp shouted.

"Yeah, you're not my family!" Angel snapped toward Tramp. "No one in my family would treat my mother like you did!"

Lady looked at Tramp intensely. Tramp sighed. The time had come to reveal everything.


	28. Tramp's Troubled Past

DISCLAIMER: Lady and the Tramp, 101 Dalmatians, and their worlds belong to Disney.

Chapter 28- Tramp's Troubled Past

Tramp looked down at the dirt. He then smiled nervously at Lady, who gave him an insistent look. Pongo and Perdita stood expectantly, waiting for Tramp to speak. The puppies meanwhile, remained crouched under the couch, and gave Tramp suspicious looks.

"Okay, okay," Tramp conceded at last. "I'll talk. Look, I…there were many things I shouldn't have done, and I'm sorry..."

"No you're not!" Scamp shouted. "You'd stop lying to us if you were."

"Hey, just listen to me," Tramp told Scamp. He then looked sadly at Lady, and then toward the exit. Lady then gave him a fierce look, and Tramp nervously started.

"I'm gonna tell you everything, okay?" Tramp told them sadly. Tramp gulped, and then he started. "I had a rough life. I… didn't have anybody in my life," Tramp told them, shutting his eyes and speaking wistfully. "I never had any parents to guide me. They got caught by the dogcatcher when I was a week old. I can sort of remember my dad trying to fight the dogcatcher, and my mom hiding me in some bushes. But they were caught, and they never got out, they took the long walk," Tramp gulped sadly. "I had to learn how to do everything on my own. Every day, I had to find my own food and face the dogcatchers. There were some close shaves but eventually, I outfoxed the dogcatchers and with practice I made better and better escapes."

Lady looked confusedly at Tramp. She then whispered to Tramp, "Weren't you…"

"I'll get to it, Pigeon," Tramp answered. He continued, but his tone became more nervous. "As I grew older, I became famous as other streetdogs began to talk about the grey, scruffy young fella who escaped from the dogcatcher every time. And when I got better at escaping, I began to help other streetdogs escape. I didn't want other dogs to end up like my parents, so I started freeing other dogs from the pound myself. Most of them thanked me and ran off. But then one day, I met a puppy who was different. He followed me down the streets. I was confused. I didn't know what he wanted. He told me he that he needed help. He told me that I was his role model, and he wanted me to show him how to steal from meat carts and how to escape from the pound. I spent a week with him, trying to teach him the tricks," Tramp told them guiltily. "And once he got good enough, well, I walked out on him. I felt that we needed to go our separate ways and I didn't tell him, because I … well, I uh didn't like mushy goodbyes, and I felt that it would be dangerous for him to be with me since I led a dangerous life freeing dogs from the pound. And besides I needed my own space and wanted to be free and independent."

"Who was the puppy?" Scamp asked.

Tramp then answered, "You know him just as well as I do, whirlwind."

Then Scamp and Angel gasped. "You mean… that was…" Angel began.

"Buster?" Scamp finished.

Tramp nodded. "You got it whirlwind," he told Scamp affectionately. "But I forgot about Buster when, uh… I met," Tramp paused. He smiled weakly at Lady, who gave him another nudge. Then, Tramp looked downward, and said, "I met a girl. The prettiest girl I ever saw. Her name was Trixie."

"You mean… you broke more hearts?" Angel asked, horrified.

Tramp nervously scratched himself, and began. "Well, I thought I loved her. I walked up to her doorstep, and asked her to be my girlfriend. She snarled and looked down at me at first, since I was a collarless stray. But after I continued to flirt, she eventually fell for me. I took her out to Tony's. Tony was a friend of mine, and he was happy to see that I found a date," he began. "Trixie loved the romantic dinner. But that next day, I met… little Lulu."

"Another one?" Scamp gasped.

Tramp frowned. "Yes," he explained. "And I… I couldn't help it. I started to fall in love with her. I didn't even realize it. But then, I couldn't help it. I walked up to Lulu, and asked if we could date. Trixie was furious, and she stormed off back to her home. But… I didn't care, I hate to say it," Tramp explained awkwardly. "Because I was now with a girl I loved more. And I thought that my love for Trixie was just a silly crush and that Lulu and I would settle down. So I took her to Tony's that next day. Tony smiled at me just like the prior day. He was always happy to see me. But I could tell he was confused on why I was with another girlfriend. Lulu wasn't though. We dated, ate dinner, and then, we spent the night. We had a few days together. But then, Lulu got carried off to the pound. I was heartsick and furious with myself for not stopping her from getting caught. But as I was on my way to the pound to set her free, I met Fifi. She walked right up to me and asked me for a date. And then I felt that same swooping sensation. I just had to say yes! For the third time that week, I went to Tony's, and now, with a third girlfriend."

"You could just stop dating them!" Angel shouted to Tramp. "Why didn't you stop!"

"Because… I was immature and well, I just kept on falling in love," Tramp explained, flinching slightly. "It's hard to…"

"No, it's not!" Angel shouted.

"Okay, okay," Tramp told Angel. "I know it shouldn't be, but it was hard for me to stop. So Fifi and I were settling down… we had a happy relationship for almost a week. But then, Lulu found me. She escaped the pound, and said that she broke out only for me. But Fifi was with me then. When Lulu saw Fifi, she told Lulu to go away. They got into a fight, and then they demanded to find out which of them I was in love with. I… I, uh, couldn't choose right away. I loved Fifi, but I still had feelings for Lulu. I told them I was in love with both of them. So right then and there both my relationships ended."

"Yes," Angel told Tramp. "Nothing like dating two girls at once, is there?"

Tramp sighed. He felt very stressed and strained. Then he continued, "I was beginning to get a reputation then."

"Big surprise," Angel muttered.

Tramp paced as he continued. "Lulu returned to the pound, and the gossip spread about me and my girlfriends. That limited my pool big time. But I couldn't refuse when Rosita Chiquita asked me. She couldn't find anyone to date either. I took her in, I really wanted someone. But… we got into fights. She was scrappy and wanted me to do everything for her, and insisted that I learnt Spanish. So, I realized we weren't meant to be, and so I ditched her. There went girl number four."

Tramp sat down and frowned, before saying, "I was down on my luck. In three short weeks, I went through four girlfriends. But then, I saw Buster again. He was growing up. He smiled at me when he saw me. He told me he was forming a gang. He offered me to co-lead his group."

"So what did you do?" Scamp asked.

Tramp shook his head. "It hurt, but I refused him. I considered it for a couple of days, but I didn't want to be chained to a gang. I wanted to be completely free. And I still wanted to find a girlfriend, it was hard for me to find one as it was and I couldn't find one if I was with Buster all the time. So I walked out on him."

"Buster didn't make it sound like that," Angel told Tramp. "And so did the other junkyard dogs. They said you were one of them."

"Well," Tramp began. "Buster didn't like my rejection much. He decided to spread rumors that I was part of his gang. It was really clever, actually. He already knew I had a reputation for dumping girls, so he could claim that I betrayed him. And since I was a part of the gang under his story, my legendary status allowed him to recruit some members who wanted protection. After all, to be with a co-leader of the Tramp's own gang…that got the others excited. They wanted to join in on the glory too."

Tramp looked sadly at Lady, who gave him another nudge. Then, Tramp sighed, and, avoiding Angel's eyes, continued, "But I didn't care. For right across the street, there was another girl. The prettiest one yet," Tramp sighed nervously. "She was suave, stylish, and charming all in one juicy package. She told me she came from the dog and pony follies and that she was new to the streets."

"Are you talking about," Angel began worriedly.

"Yes," Tramp explained. "Your mother. I found her in some bushes, trying to hide from Buster, who was trying to recruit her into his gang and to make her his girl. She told me she was disgusted with him and so she rejected him and his gang. We took a liking to each other and I decided to take her under my wing. After a while, I realized something. Since she didn't live on the streets before, maybe she wouldn't have known about my past! I had another opportunity. And wow, what a good one I had! We became good friends and I helped her live on the streets for a couple weeks. She flirted with me, but I didn't know if she was serious. Then one day though, Peg was caught by the dogcatcher. I had to free her, I couldn't let her go to the pound! So I saved her as quickly as I could and then escaped. He began to chase me. I ran in the opposite direction so he'd get away from Peg. So I wound up at Snob Hill."

"Your house," Scamp muttered.

"Hold on, whirlwind," Tramp continued. "The dogcatchers would never look for me there. Just when I thought I'd leave though, I was stopped. My eyes laid upon… the most gorgeous girl I could ever feast my eyes on. She was worrying about a baby."

"Yes," Lady continued. "He came in and told me how dangerous babies were, and then he walked off."

"Then though, as I left, I knew I scared her. I had to say I was bummed," Tramp commented. "I didn't know why. I told others hard truths before. But then, as I went back to the street…" Tramp paused nervously. "I was cornered by Peg. And uh…" Tramp looked like he was about to faint in nervousness. "She asked me to go on a date," Tramp spat out very fast.

"And what did you say?" Angel asked suspiciously.

"I thought, of course! I had been hoping for her to ask me out. And here was my chance! So hey, I was back at Tony's again. Your mom and I built a lot of memories," Tramp told Angel. "But…" And now, Tramp took a few steps backward, breathing heavily. Lady gave him a hard look. Then, Tramp spluttered, "I…I uh, was falling in love with someone else too."

"You filthy, dirty cad!" Angel shouted, her eyes glaring at Tramp with deep loathing.

Tramp recoiled. But then he continued, "I didn't realize it then. But I couldn't, well… I couldn't stop… I couldn't stop,"

"Thinking of me?" Lady asked gently.

"Yeah," Tramp spat out. "I told myself to stop it. I told myself that I was in love with Peg and I should stop thinking about that girl from Snob Hill. But I couldn't. I felt like I had to see her again, and I found myself passing by that house with that beauty in it and I was obsessing over the chance to ease her worries. I couldn't help it. I passed by it more and more. Peg grew suspicious. She wondered why I was always going to Snob Hill, and I could tell that she figured out something was up. And then she saw Lady herself. She became furious, and then I had no choice but to split up with her."

"I can't believe you," Angel muttered fiercely. "You filthy, unfaithful heartbreaker! I hate you so much!"

"Hey, I made some mistakes," Tramp sighed defensively, as Angel continued to glare at him. "But…I made sure that I wouldn't dump any more girls. When I finally met Pidge that spring, I was still in love with her, and I told myself that no matter what, she'd be the final girl that I'd ever fall in love with, even if she wouldn't be interested in me. And she was, and we've been together ever since. No girl can take her place in my heart, and I've learned from my mistakes."

"Yes, you've learned…" Angel told Tramp sarcastically.

"Angel?" Lady added gently. "I… I can understand how you're feeling."

"No you can't!" Angel shouted. "Your mom didn't have her heart broken!"

"No," Lady admitted. "But… well, I knew your mom before," Lady confessed. "We shared a cell in the pound."

"You did?" Angel asked. "But why didn't you tell me before?"

"I had no idea she was your mother," Lady replied, "And I didn't want to talk about her because going to the pound was very traumatic for me," Lady told Angel sadly. "I didn't want to talk about it at all... it was horrible for me. The pound dogs bullied and embarrassed me. But she was different. She stood up to stop the other pound dogs from teasing me. But then she told me about Tramp's past too," she explained. "And like you, I didn't believe him either, I was really angry at him. I thought he betrayed me. But I was wrong. He has never left my side since we fell in love on that bella notte. And Angel? I'm sorry for insulting your mother before… I was just seriously worried that I was going to lose Tramp to her. I hope you would understand, and I sincerely apologize."

Angel nodded, and Lady saw a glimmer of understanding in her eyes.

Tramp confessed, "Look, I didn't want you kids to leave because… I just didn't want you to discover my past. I'm ashamed of it, and I just didn't want you to grow up knowing that your father was a cad. That's why I was tough on the rules with you earlier, because I didn't want you to go out on the streets and learn about my past through street gossip. Now I know that I should've told you earlier, but I thought this way was for the best."

"Yes," Angel scoffed. "Covering it all up like that. That sounds just like you."

"Look Angel, I wasn't at my best. And I understand why you might never forgive me." Tramp told her. "But…"

But before Tramp could say another word, someone slipped through the gate. Lady, Pongo, and Perdita gasped. Without a word, she purposefully hurried over to the couch. Tramp looked back, and then stopped.

"But what?" Scamp asked.

"But just listen," Tramp told the puppies simply. Then, Tramp stepped aside, and Peg took his place and bent down by the couch.

"Hiya sweetie," Peg told Angel.

Angel looked up, saw her mother, and gasped, "Mama…but what are you doing here?"

"You weren't thinking of running off on them, were you?" Peg asked.

"I was!" Angel shouted. "He broke your heart! And mine!"

Peg sighed and told Angel, "Look, Angel. He's a real handsome fella…he was the most charming guy in town… but I see that he's hers now," she explained. "I didn't before. I wanna tell you that I'm not perfect either. It's my fault all of this happened, I tried to split Lady and Tramp up just so I could be with Tramp again. I was being selfish, I forgot what true love was… but then I saw them on the journey up to find you. And sweetie, he's changed. You can never find a couple more firmly in love. And I'm fine with that, really. I got over it. I was reminded of my love for my own husband...the only one I'd really ever be in love with."

"But… Daddy's dead," Angel muttered.

"Yes, he is," Peg told her sadly. "But you have an adopted father who cares about you as much as your Daddy would've…" Peg cried slightly as she spoke. "Come on sweetie… I think you and your boyfriend should go home. I wanted you to find a home for ages…and you'll be loved there."

"Mama…" Angel gasped. "You mean…"

"Trust in him," Peg told Angel intensely. "And always remember I told you to do so."

Angel sighed. She and Scamp looked at Patch.

"So" Patch asked the parents. "You really love us?"

"Yes," Perdita answered. "We'll promise to pay more attention to you, Patch. It's hard work parenting ninety-nine…"

"But we'll always care about you," Pongo finished.

"And we know that you two can take care of yourselves," Lady told Scamp and Angel. "We won't stop you from being yourselves and we'll let you have adventures when you wish."

"And… I've told you guys everything," Tramp added. "Right Pidge?"

Lady nodded. "He doesn't have any more secrets," she explained. "Just remember that we're not like Buster… we're your family, and we'll always be there for you."

Warmly, the parents smiled at their children. Angel, Patch, and Scamp looked at each other, and at once, they agreed.

"Could you leave us alone for a bit?" Patch asked gently. "We need to talk things over."

"Okay son," Pongo answered, and the parents and Danielle walked off.


	29. Cruella and the Captured Puppies

DISCLAIMER: Lady and the Tramp, 101 Dalmatians, and their worlds belong to Disney.

Chapter 29—Cruella and the Captured Puppies

Standing outside the fence of the junkyard, the five parents and Danielle waited for the runaway puppies to finish talking.

"Tramp," Lady told him gently. "I'm… I'm so proud of you. You've learned… and I can't believe you told them all of that. I know that you told me everything… and that you really will never lie again."

"Thanks Pidge," Tramp told Lady sadly. "But we didn't get the kids back. I was right before. I shouldn't have said anything. This way was worse."

"Well, at least they're considering coming home now," Perdita told Tramp. "That's better than before."

"And not saying anything wouldn't have helped either," Pongo told Tramp.

"What should I have done then?" Tramp asked

"Well," Pongo told Tramp awkwardly. "You… told them everything, but…"

"Wasn't that what I was supposed to do?" Tramp gasped confusedly.

"Yes," Lady added to Tramp. "But… you should have been a little more careful on how you spoke to them. Make the blow a bit softer. You were a bit too detailed, and I could tell you horrified the children."

Peg muttered, "I don't understand… if I could forgive Tramp, how come Angel can't! I… I just need to talk to my girl again!"

"Hey, maybe they won't forgive you," Danielle suggested to Tramp. "They're really serious about rebelling."

"But I did all that stuff in about a month!" Tramp protested. "And it's been two whole years since!"

"I know," Pongo told Tramp. "I just hope they'll forgive you and understand that you've changed."

"Well, all we can do is wait," Perdita told the other parents sadly. And the parents and Danielle sat outside, waiting.

Meanwhile, Scamp, Angel, and Patch sat alone in the yard. They got out from under the couch, and looked at each other.

"Doesn't that Tramp make you sick?" Angel asked Scamp and Patch. "I'd hate to deal with him again!"

"Yeah, I know," Scamp fumed. "How did I get stuck with bad parents?"

"Come on Scamp, your mom's not that bad," Angel told him. "She's a bit strict and worries too much, but at least she cares for us. But he doesn't care for anyone. I bet you he just ran out for fun."

She then turned to Patch, and sighed, "Your parents aren't that bad, Patch. Why don't you go home to them? They'll miss you a lot. You actually have two parents that care for you."

"I don't want to walk out on you guys," Patch told them. "You're right though... my parents aren't that bad."

"And my mom is the best parent that you could ever have," Angel smiled proudly. "I don't understand though… how come Mama wants us to go home with that Tramp, even after he broke her heart! Can't she see that he doesn't care about anyone at all?"

Scamp suggested, "Maybe your mom betrayed us."

Angel frowned at Scamp, "She would never. Mom really cares for me. Everything she suggests to me she thinks is for my best. I just wonder why she forgives him."

But then, Patch turned to Scamp and Angel. "Do you think it's possible that Tramp did learn?"

"Why?" Scamp asked. "Did you listen to his story? He was so horrible in it!"

"That's the point," Patch sighed. "I don't know… but it doesn't seem like he could be covering up anything in that, could it? Maybe he actually told us the truth. After all, how could it be worse? He might have confessed all of that because he was really sorry."

"Hmm… it's worth a thought," Angel muttered. "If he really changed, that would explain why Mom changed her mind. Still though, what he did was terrible. He's an awful, selfish, lying jerk! But…" and then she sighed. "But I don't want to disappoint mom. She wants me to go with them for some reason. I sort of feel like I should go to their home for her sake…"

But they were interrupted by a loud honking noise. It was getting louder and louder with every second.

The parents and Danielle hurriedly re-entered the yard. "Kids, we have to hide!" Pongo shouted as each parent and puppy hid behind a couch, chair, or table.

"Oh no!" Perdita gasped. "What's this?"

The honking continued to get louder and louder, until…

Crash! The fence of the junkyard fell down, and a small red car was driving at top speed through the yard.

"Blasted fools! Why did they have to put up that blasted fence!" Cruella yelled angrily.

Then, she drove through the other side's fence, making another hole in the fence.

"Thank heavens, she's gone," Perdita sighed.

But then, Pongo turned to ask Peg. "What happened to you?"

"Oh, I'm sorry I was late," Peg whispered. "I just… there was something I had to do," Peg whispered sadly.

Angel walked up to Peg, and told her, "Oh, mama… that's all right…what…"

"Never mind, sweetie," Peg whispered to Angel sadly, slightly teary-eyed.

"Well," Pongo told Peg nervously. "Didn't Lucky, Penny, and Puffball pick you up?"

Peg frowned, before saying, "No, Pongo. I found my way here myself."

Pongo frowned. "What is it, Pongo?" Perdita asked.

"It's just… I thought I saw them in the back of Cruella's car," he explained morbidly.

Everyone else gasped. "That old hag!" Patch exclaimed in horror. "She… she can't get my brother and sister!"

"And poor Puffball!" Danielle gasped. "I… I can't let her take him!"

"We have to stop them!" Pongo declared.

"Hey," Scamp shouted. He had a sudden idea. "Let us go into the car and rescue them!"

"Are you coming with us?" Perdita asked hopefully.

Scamp shook his head. "We don't want to go home," Scamp explained. "But we need to save them. We'll settle things later after we save them. So how about it?"

"But, it's too…" Lady began, but then she remembered her promise. She would not overprotect her children anymore. "Of course you can."

The other parents nodded. Then Scamp smiled. He looked at Patch and Angel, who also smiled approvingly. Then Scamp declared, "I know where she'd be!"

"You do?" Lady asked.

"Cruella told us many times she had a weapon to get at the post office," Scamp suggested.

"So that means that we must go there," Lady muttered. "But how will we save the children without Cruella noticing?"

"I have an idea," Angel smiled. "Let me explain."  
************************************************** ***

Meanwhile in the back of the car, Penny, Puffball, and Lucky sadly sat in cages. They were being brought to the post office by Cruella, who was anticipating her weapon. Cruella was in high spirits. "Well, well, well. So they think that they can outwit Cruella. But that's impossible. Cruella always wins in the end. Three down today," she cackled.

"What should we do?" Penny asked, rattling the bars of her cage.

"Try to break out?" Lucky suggested weakly.

"Let's try it. Come on guys," Puffball shouted. He succeeded… in pushing the cage to the ground.

"Ow, that hurt," Puffball smiled embarrassedly.

Then, Cruella's car stopped. The puppies looked to the left, and saw a sign that read, "Post Office" The three puppies gulped. Cruella smiled, and then got out of the car.

"Let's say our goodbyes," Lucky muttered.

"It was nice meeting you," Puffball told the others sadly.

"Do you think we could be rescued?" Lucky asked.

Puffball shook his head. "Those kids think we're traitors. And the parents will be trying to chase the rebels back in line. They wouldn't notice that we're gone yet."

"I just wish that… I could see Patch again," Penny whispered sadly. "We were best friends… before I went with Mom and Dad. Oh, I miss…" Then she gasped and exclaimed, "Patch!"

There, standing outside of the car doors, were Patch, Angel, and Danielle.

Penny exclaimed, "Look! We're not doomed after all!"

"How can they get in?" Puffball asked.

"Here, it's these buttons that open up the windows!" Lucky exclaimed, opening up his window. "Penny, press the one on your side!"

Penny did, and the window on her side opened too.

"Patch, are you guys here to save us?" Penny asked.

"We sure are!" Patch told them, and Angel and Danielle nodded.

"Puffball, are you in there?" Danielle asked.

"Yeah, I'm on the floor," Puffball told Danielle. Then he excitedly said, "Patch, I'm so sorry for calling you a spoiled brat."

"Thanks," Patch told Puffball forgivingly, and the three puppies jumped into the back.

"Here," Angel told Lucky, Penny, and Puffball. "I'll take care of the locks and get you out of here. Danielle and Patch can explain the plan."

And Angel began to bite open the lock to Penny's cage.

"You came just in time," Penny whispered.

"We're gonna take you to our moms and dads," Danielle explained as she bit the handle on Puffball's cage, lifting it up to the seat.

"But I thought you guys were rebels," Puffball asked.

"We are," Angel answered, biting. "Well, she's not anymore," Angel indicated toward Danielle. "But we're working together to save you guys."

"Thanks Dani," Puffball told Danielle happily, and they kissed through the cage. Danielle smiled.

"There," Angel told Penny. "You're free."

Penny smiled in gratitude as she walked out of her cage. Then Angel worked on Lucky's and Puffball's cages.

"Have you seen Scamp yet?" Patch asked Danielle.

Danielle shook her head. "He'll come."

They then looked to the post office. The five parents were stationed on the front steps, looking at the post office intently, and occasionally throwing glances back to the car.

"Our parents are gonna make sure that Cruella doesn't reach the car while we're still in it," Danielle explained. Then as Angel unlocked Lucky's cage, Danielle excitedly yelled, "Here he comes!"

There, down the hill, ran Scamp. He was carrying three white things in his mouth…

"Hey, it's those things!" Lucky gasped. "How?"

"It was kid stuff," Scamp smirked. He jumped into the back of the car just as Angel finished unlocking Puffball's cage. With him, he dragged three stuffed Dalmatian puppies.

"Easy work," Scamp answered simply. "I just sneaked past Horace and Jasper, and got them from her room."

Patch then went to each cage, and pushed a stuffed puppy into them. Then, the seven puppies jumped out of the car.

"Hey kids," Pongo whispered. "You..."

But then he stopped talking and the parents looked at the post office in alarm. The post office door opened, and Cruella was holding a big box.

"Ha ha ha! My ultimate weapons! These are my first-class, full powered blasting orbs! One throw, and all those puppies are finished! And I have six!"

"Run!" Scamp shouted.

Cruella made a few steps toward her car, but then, she was stopped by the parents, who growled at her menacingly. Pongo and Perdita were pulling on her legs.

"Blasted, dirty things!" Cruella exclaimed bitterly, clutching the box of orbs tightly.

Tramp tried to push her over. Lady and Peg jumped onto her arms, and bit at them.

"Careful, dearie," Peg told Lady. "Or the things will explode!"

"I will," Lady replied.

"Let me go to the car!" Cruella shouted, as she was getting dragged away from it.

Meanwhile, the puppies found refuge behind some bushes in a forest across the street. The parents continued to fight Cruella. But then, Tramp looked into the forest. He saw them briefly, and winked.

"Oh, if you're going to stop me… you can't!" Cruella smiled as Peg bit onto her gloves.

Then, she abruptly grabbed onto Peg. Peg gasped in horror as Cruella held onto her.

"If you bite my hands, you'll be subject to the blasting orb!" Cruella gasped, as she opened the package and revealed a black orb. "And I'll take care of you first for destroying the beauty of my hands!"

With her other hand, she grabbed onto the orb. Lady, Pongo, and Perdita tried to stop her, but Cruella was too fast and she lobbed it at Peg. Peg gasped as Cruella threw, but then…

It all happened in a few seconds. Tramp jumped and abruptly, grabbed Peg out of her hand. The orb hit the ground a few yards away, but a shard of the orb hit Tramp's back leg. They fell to the ground a bit away from Cruella. Peg stood up, but Tramp was flailing on the ground and struggling to get up.

"Tramp," Peg told him worriedly. "You're okay, aren't you?"

"Run into the woods," Tramp told Peg. "I'll be all right. I'll get up. Take care of yourself. I'll be fine."

"Oh, but..." Peg began.

"Go!" Tramp shouted. "I'll manage."

Peg nodded worriedly and turned back. Tramp struggled to get off the ground, his leg ached because of the orb. Meanwhile, in the bushes, Angel watched the scene, wide-eyed. Her eyes became a little bit teary, as she whispered, "He did this… for her… he… he cares for her… they're just not in love... but he still cares for her. He's not just out for himself... maybe he has changed after all."

"I'll get you now!" Cruella shouted, as she held up another orb and aimed it at Tramp.

But Tramp jumped away from the shattering orb and he growled at Cruella. He walked over slowly, revealing a limp. But he still growled as fiercely as he could at her.

"Well, well, well," Cruella shouted. "If you attack me, you'll get blasted sooner."

But Pongo and Perdita then bit onto Cruella's legs. Cruella shrieked, and then abruptly, Peg circled back. She and Lady each jumped on to one of Cruella's arms, and then Lady and Peg bit Cruella very hard. This caused her to shriek with agony again, and sensing the opportunity, Tramp jumped up and pushed the box of orbs out of her hands… and it hit the roof of her car.

"Perfect!" Cruella shouted.

The orb box broke the roof of Cruella's car and sunk through the seats. Shards of orbs lay on the seats. Then, three cages flew up into the air.

"Come on," Pongo suggested. "Let's join the puppies."

"Ha ha ha!" Cruella cackled, observing the damage as the parents ran away. "I got…"

But then, she saw a stuffed puppy, lying heavily damaged, surrounded by orb shards. She looked into the other cages. They were both occupied by damaged, stuffed puppies.

"Oh, you're going to pay for this!" Cruella shrieked, and she got into her car and drove off down the street.

"I think we're safe again," Lady whispered as the parents and puppies joined together.

"Maybe not," growled a voice from the woods. "You're a bunch of low-life traitors. You'll never be safe from me."


	30. Angel's Deceit

DISCLAIMER: Lady and the Tramp, 101 Dalmatians, and their worlds belong to Disney.

Chapter 30—Angel's Deceit

The puppies and parents gasped, and then Buster revealed himself from behind the trees. He smiled devilishly at the puppies as he walked toward them.

"Buster," Tramp told him, growling. "Get away from us."

Buster smirked. "You don't scare me, Tramp. You lost your touch when you turned your back on everything and settled down with Miss Powderpuff."

"Why are you here?" Lady asked worriedly. "Can't you just leave us alone?"

"Oh no, Miss Powderpuff," Buster explained with a smirk. "I want revenge. I don't like going to the pound. And not only was I sent to the pound, but I was sent by those traitorous kids! Those brats got me caught in the dogcatcher's net!"

"Wow," Puffball told them, amazed. "You got him caught!"

Then Buster turned and saw Puffball. "Do my eyes deceive me? Or is it everyone's favorite little puffball!" he laughed. "You look no tougher than before, puffy, I bet you can't even perform any moves yet! And I bet you still want to find that sniveling little family that would never take you in because you are such a wimp!"

Puffball bristled with humiliation. He was going to have to live through Buster's bullying yet another time.

"Just leave him alone!" Danielle shouted to Buster. "He's my boyfriend!" Puffball smiled, and he was amazed just how brave Danielle was in front of Buster. Her support made him feel a little braver too.

"Oh, so you're going the Angel route," Buster drawled to Puffball devilishly, eyeing Danielle standing next to him. "Marrying a housedog, huh? Not surprised, as you're not cut out to live on the streets, puffy," Then he turned to Danielle and told her, "And why would anyone want you? You're just a prissy little housedog who looks as dumb as dirt."

Puffball glared at Buster. He was furious with Buster for bullying his only friend, and he felt a lot braver now as he exclaimed, "Say what you like about me but don't hurt Dani!"

"You shouldn't have bullied Puffball all these months!" Danielle shouted.

"And I'm not going to let you hurt either of us anymore!" Puffball shouted, growling at Buster.

"Like I'd be scared of you weaklings," Buster smirked. "But you're lucky. I don't have time to waste with you now, puffy, I'll take care of you and your girl later. Anyways…those rotten brats are just like you, Tramp! They turned their backs on me and quit my gang, and so did you!"

"Hey, Buster, I didn't ever join your gang," Tramp told him exasperatedly. "Stop lying about it."

"Who are you to talk?" Buster snapped. "You lie to everyone all the time. Everyone knows that."

"No he doesn't," Lady told Buster firmly. "I know him better than anyone else. He's my husband. And I trust him completely."

"Buster, you knew I didn't want to be chained down to a gang," Tramp told him firmly. He was suddenly a lot more confident than when he was trying to talk to the puppies. "I had a life to live. I wanted to be free and to make my own choices."

"Well you made yours," Buster glared at Tramp. "You abandoned me."

"Hey, hey…Buster... I saved your life, and helped you learn to live on the streets. I thought you'd learn to become another helpful streetdog like me. But I saw you bully another dog in the dogcatcher's net. You laughed at him, taunted, and humiliated him, just because he wanted love himself. And that's when I saw what you had become. You've come a long way since when you were in his place. And you wonder why I wouldn't want to join with you."

Scamp and Angel listened intently to Tramp. "He didn't tell us this," Angel whispered.

"So that's why he didn't join," Scamp added.

"Oh yeah, taking pity on Pinky," Buster laughed. "But he deserved it. He was just jealous, that's all. And he wasn't dog enough to be with us. He wouldn't have passed the tests and he would've ruined our image."

Abruptly, Peg gasped. Tramp then growled to Buster, "I see you haven't changed. He was a great street dog himself. He reminded me of you. You both rose to become top street dogs. But you became obsessed with power and glory. And he didn't. He was good and decent. He followed my paw prints. I'm proud of Spunky, no matter what you might say to put him down, even now. So just leave him alone!"

Lady and Perdita looked at each other. That name sounded familiar... Then Angel gasped, "That's…that's…"

"Yeah, don't you dare insult my husband!" Peg shouted to Buster.

Everybody gasped at that moment.

Tramp then looked at Peg… "You mean… Spunky was your husband?" he asked in surprise, to which Peg nodded.

Buster muttered, "That voice…" Then he stared for a moment, and he grinned at Peg. "Oh, ho, ho!" Buster smiled in delight. "What a trip down memory lane, I must be getting misty-eyed with all these familiar faces. Well, well Peg, it's back to old times," Buster grinned devilishly while Peg gave Buster a look of deepest loathing. "So how's my favorite low-life pound diva doing, and why are you with these weak, little housedogs?"

"None of your business, Buster," Peg curtly responded, glaring at Buster.

"Ah I get it. There's nothing like trying to split up Tramp and his powderpuff, is there?" Buster maliciously declared.

"Rubbish," Peg spat at him. "I'm not here for that, you lying filth. And I just told you. I'm already married."

"Ha-ha-ha, what spunk," Buster told Peg, placing a harsh emphasis on the last word. "And don't lie to me. I know that old Spunky is dead. Everyone knows he is. And you're damaged goods. Nobody would ever want you. Except..."

And then, Buster got a devilish smirk. "You could always become my girl."

"Never Buster," Peg told him flatly. "I'm true to Spunky and I still love him, even if he is dead."

"So," Buster growled at Peg, seething. "Why are you…"

Then, Buster looked at Peg and Angel, and just smiled. "Ha ha ha, I should've known… your stubborn, sassy natures, that puffy tail, that blonde fluffy coat, and those big blue eyes…ooh, those eyes give it away! I should've known you were related."

Peg nodded proudly, staring at Buster intently. "That's right, Buster," Peg told him viciously. "She's my little angel."

"It's so obvious now," Buster laughed to Angel. "You wound up with the lamest excuses for street dogs I could think of for parents. No wonder why you weren't cut out to be a junkyard dog."

Angel was about to reply, but she held back. She began to form an idea. Scamp then shouted, "Don't you dare insult Angel's parents!"

Lady then added, "All of us know better than to join up with you. Now, why don't you just stop being horrible to us?"

Buster growled. "Enough talk! I'm going to get my revenge! Scampster, Angelcakes, Patchy, you're puppy chow!"

The parents hurriedly rushed over to their puppies and formed a protective circle surrounding them as Buster circled in, trying to break through the ranks. Perdita, Pongo, Lady, Tramp, and Peg all growled at Buster fiercely as Buster continued to circle them.

"Hey, I'm not after you guys," Buster snarled at the parents. "Hand those babies over, and no one will get hurt."

"No one," Lady told Buster in disbelief. "You just said yourself that you'll murder our puppies!"

"Aw, I was just joking, powderpuff," Buster told Lady. "Come on… hand them over, or I'll get you first."

"We're not moving," Pongo told Buster firmly.

"They're our children," Perdita told him.

"I thought you had ninety-eight others," Buster told Perdita. "Just give me Patchy, and no one will be hurt."

"Never!" Perdita told him fiercely.

"Patch may be one of our ninety-nine puppies, but he's one-of-a-kind to us!" Pongo shouted. Patch's eyes widened.

"You better leave us alone," Tramp warned Buster.

"Or we'll fight you," Peg told Buster.

The seven puppies stood in the middle of the parents' circle, carefully tucked away from Buster. The parents meanwhile, continued to growl at Buster threateningly. Buster then announced, "Hey, if you keep on resisting, I'll just call your old friend Cruella."

"How do you know about Cruella?" Pongo asked.

Buster smiled. "I've been helping her out. Remember those barks that announced that stopped those puppies from escaping? That was me. It was such a beauty-ful idea. Those idiot puppies fell for it! They thought it was you, Tramp!"

"Don't insult our children!" Perdita told Buster.

"Yes, stop it, Buster!" Lady added. "Just leave them alone. You don't need to be this hateful."

Ignoring Lady, Buster declared, "So get out of the way or I'll fight you all! And I can beat all of you meek, little housedogs and turn you all into kibble. Don't get any ideas."

Scamp, Angel, and Patch watched their parents defending them. Then, Angel whispered, "I guess… they really do love us."

Penny, Lucky, Danielle, and Puffball looked at Angel and gasped.

"Yeah, I know," Scamp added. "Even Pop does."

"I didn't know he'd stand up for both Mom and Dad," Angel whispered, smiling.

Patch then whispered, "I think we're hurting all our moms and dads… we're letting them fight Buster for us."

"What should we do, though?" Penny asked.

"We have to distract him from all of our moms and dads," Scamp answered breathlessly.

"But how?" Danielle asked curiously.

Then, Angel smiled. "We'll lure him away ourselves," she told them.

Penny gasped. "That's so dangerous!"

"Don't worry Penny, Scamp, Angel, and I can do it," Patch told Penny. "He's after us specifically because we walked out on him. And he wouldn't dare fight the Tramp… I don't think. So let's lure him out."

"Where should we meet you?" Puffball asked as the parents continued to growl threateningly at Buster, who was circling to find an opening to attack the kids.

"At the railroad, how about," Scamp suggested.

"The railroad?" Angel asked. "But why…"

"I have an idea," Scamp smiled, smirking.

"Great," Patch told them.

"Well, good luck!" Penny whispered to them, and Danielle, Lucky and Puffball nodded.

"See you soon," Patch smiled. Then he hurried through the gap between Peg and Perdita, and Angel and Scamp quickly followed him out.

"Children, come back!" Perdita cried.

Buster stopped. He smirked devilishly, and then declared, "Beauty-ful."

And he instantly followed Scamp, Angel, and Patch down the path.

"Oh no!" Lady gasped. "They've… run away again."

"Sorry Pidge," Tramp told her. "I…shouldn't have done that stuff. They'll never forgive me."

"It's not that," Puffball explained to Lady and Tramp. "Scamp, Angel, and Patch want to save you guys from Buster."

The parents gasped and looked at each other in delighted shock.

"You mean… they really forgive us?" Lady asked excitedly.

Puffball nodded. "I think they really do!"

The parents' moment of jubilation though, quickly turned into worry. "I hope they'll turn out all right," Perdita sighed concernedly.

"They think they'll get by just fine, and they'll stop Buster," Puffball explained. "They'll meet you at the railroad tracks."

Tramp smirked. "You know, I think they might be able to pull this off. Remember we promised not to be overprotective. Let's give them the chance to prove themselves. Follow me."

"Let's hide near the tracks," Pongo suggested. "We can protect them in case of emergency, and still hide from Cruella."

"Be careful and stick by me," Perdita told Penny and Lucky. "And keep an eye out for Cruella, she might still be following us."

"Yes mother," Lucky told Perdita, and Penny nodded.

Meanwhile, Scamp, Angel, and Patch stood on the middle of the bridge with the railroad tracks. "So what's your plan?" Patch asked.

"Remember how I got my paw stuck in the boards?" Scamp asked Angel.

Then, Angel smiled. "Of course," she smiled. "Patch… these boards are insecure. We've got to trick Buster into forgetting that."

"Let's try to weaken up the boards," Scamp suggested, and he and Patch walked on many boards, pressing hard on each of them. Fortunately, some of them cracked.

"We'll be able to get by on these," Patch told Scamp. "But probably not him… he's too big!"

"Yeah," Scamp smiled. "It's a big drop. Maybe we'll lose him." Then, Scamp and Patch walked up to Angel. "It looks perfect to us!" Scamp exclaimed.

"Let's pretend to be scared of him," Patch suggested.

"Good idea," Scamp agreed. "What are you doing, Angel?" he asked Angel, who was sitting down slyly.

"I'm preparing for my part," Angel smirked. "I've been thinking it over for a while… I'm going to have some fun with him."

Scamp and Patch looked bewildered at Angel. But then Buster arrived. He sneered at them. "Aha! There you guys are! And none of your housedog parents to protect you!"

"Oh no! Run!" Scamp gasped. He and Patch hurried across the railroad tracks. A couple of pieces of wood cracked with the sound of their crossing.

"Haha, scaredy puppies," Buster mocked. Then he saw Angel, who was just sitting there, pretending to ignore Buster. "Hey, Angelcakes. How come you're not scared?"

Angel then looked at Buster, and smirked. She told him in a suave, silky way, "I was just… pretending to be with them," she smiled. "But why would I want to be a meek, little housedog? I decided that I want to be your girl after all. I just didn't understand how charming and attractive you were."

"Yeah, she expects to fool me," Buster laughed. "Hey kid, hate to break it to ya, but it ain't going to work."

"What isn't going to work?" Angel asked Buster, smiling broadly at him. Then she rubbed against him a few times and looked into his eyes. "I've been cooped up and trapped in that prissy little home. I got tired of it so I ripped off my collar and I ran away from home to try and join up with you. I just haven't had the chance to talk to you before... and I'm longing for the old days," she smiled.

"Yeah!" Buster announced excitedly. He continued, "The old days!"

"I've talked to Ruby about it, too," Angel continued slyly. "She feels the same way. So does Francois, and Mooch, and all of your other old minions," Angel laughed. "You can rule us all again… and have all the power you ever dreamed of."

"Power… power!" Buster shouted excitedly. "Yes… junkyard dogs will rule this town, and Buster would rule the junkyard dogs!"

"Yes," Angel told Buster craftily. "You'll have loads of power. And…you can make me your girl like you always wanted to."

"Hang on there," Buster told Angel suspiciously. "You need to pass a test. My test for you is to kill your meek little housedog friend Scampster," Buster announced devilishly.

"Oh, that will be easy," Angel purred.

Scamp and Patch were waiting at the other end of the railroad tracks, and they shivered nervously.

"She wouldn't do it, would she?" Patch asked, slightly nervous.

"Hey, it's part of the act," Scamp told Patch confidently. "Or… I hope."

Angel then rushed down the track. With fury, she tackled Scamp, and pinned him to the ground.

"Angel, what are you doing?" Scamp gasped. He knew he had to act surprised.

"Killing you, what else!" she laughed devilishly. "You're dead meat, Scampster. You betrayed the junkyard dogs. Now you will have to suffer the consequences."

"Let him go, Angel!" Patch shouted.

"Angel… Angel… but… what about your mom? Or Mom and Pop… and hey, what about us? Aren't we friends? And I thought… you're my girlfriend!" Scamp asked, writhing on the ground and sounding increasingly worried.

"I don't care about any of those sniveling parents! Or you! Forget those fireflies and Tony's… those days are over!" Angel growled to Scamp and pressed hard onto him. "And don't ask for pity. Scamp's trouble is Scamp's trouble, just like Angel's trouble is Angel's trouble!"

"Get off him!" Patch shouted to Angel, agitated. Then Patch started shouting, "Help! Help!"

"Beautyful," Buster purred as he walked to the edge of the railroad track. "That's it, Baby. Now let me finish the job."

"Oh don't," Angel cooed slyly. "I want do to the honors."

"Hey, hate to break it to you kid, but as I rule the junkyard dogs, I'm going to finish him off," Buster told Angel.

"Oh, then, very well, Buster," Angel told him craftily as Buster began to run across the bridge.

But then, there was a crack. A railroad board fell out from under Buster.

"Ugh… what's this!" Buster yelled as he fell down into the river, furious.

"Ha ha, fooled ya!" Angel declared in delight. She took her paws off Scamp as Buster fell.

"Wahoo!" Scamp cheered. "So long Buster!"

"I'll get you for this!" Buster proclaimed in outrage. "You've not seen the last of me yet!"

"Slick move!" Scamp shouted to Angel as Buster floated down, screaming threats from a distance, and the two of them happily rubbed against each other.

Then a rustling came from the bushes. Behind him, the five parents emerged, along with the other puppies. They were all beaming at Scamp, Angel, and Patch. "Patch, Scamp, Angel," Lady cooed to them. "Why, you were amazing!"

"Hey, thanks," Scamp smiled to Lady, and then Lady gently nuzzled Scamp, who smiled.

"You made your daddy proud, Angel," Peg told her. "And you made me proud too. You put on a wonderful show." And then Angel and Peg happily laughed and rubbed against each other.

Scamp sighed, and looked at his parents. He smiled slightly as he told them, "Mom… Pop… thanks for finding us."

"Yeah," Patch sighed. "I'm sorry for running off..."

"Oh, it's all right," Perdita told him forgivingly. "We're just very happy to have you back!"

"I'm so glad you're coming home, Patch!" Penny cheered, and the two of them happily rubbed against each other.

Then Angel looked at Tramp, and for the first time in days, she smiled at him. "Tramp," Angel gently whispered, "I… I'm happy to see that you've changed..."

Tramp smiled at Angel. "Thanks Angel… it means a lot to me that you forgive me," he told her.

"Of course I do!" Angel told him brightly. "You… you really care about my Mom after all. And I didn't know you stood up for my dad, either!"

"I didn't know he was your dad," Tramp told her proudly. "But… your father was one of the greatest street dogs I knew."

"We'll promise to treat you better, all right?" Lady asked gently, embracing Scamp slightly. "We'll try to understand you… and let you be who you really are." Scamp nodded.

Lucky then asked, "Does anyone know where we are?"

"Hey, we're not too far from the other bridge," Tramp announced. Peg looked inexplicably back for some reason. "The other junkyard's not very far back," Tramp told Scamp and Angel.

"We've just got to get there to get your collars back," Pongo told them. And now together, the puppies and parents were ready for their final journey.


	31. The Conflict on the Cliff

DISCLAIMER: Lady and the Tramp, 101 Dalmatians, and their worlds belong to Disney.

Ch. 31—The Conflict on the Cliff

Together, the puppies and parents began their journey home.

"So how do we get to that junkyard?" Danielle asked.

"It's simple," Angel explained. "We just follow the dirt road down, then we'll get to that horrible place. It's not a short walk, but it won't be too long."

They turned a corner to face a long narrow road. A grassy hill with a forest on top was on their left side, and a steep cliff was on their right. The sun was setting, becoming only a reddish tint in the sky, and the streets were completely abandoned.

"It's beautiful," Peg whispered. "I wish that…" Then all of a sudden, she froze. She looked up into the forest at the top of the hill, and gasped.

"What's wrong, Mama?" Angel asked.

"Oh nothing," Peg answered, but she continued to look into the forest and frowned as they continued to walk on.

But when they were just about to turn the corner of the road, they were greeted with the sound of honking.

"Oh no!" Perdita gasped. "It's Cruella!"

There was no mistaking the honking of that car. "Run!" Lucky screamed. The puppies and parents ran up the hill, trying to avoid being noticed by Cruella. However, she parked her car, which was now fully repaired.

"Ha ha ha… so they think they can outwit Cruella," Cruella laughed. "I saw all of their bloody little skins." Then she yelled, "Jasper! Horace! Get down here this instant!"

A truck bumbled its way behind Cruella's car and stopped right behind her.

"They went into the forest," Cruella told them. "Get them! And hurry."

Horace and Jasper began to search for the puppies, but fortunately, they were checking another part of the forest.

"It's a big forest. We'll be fine here," Danielle told them reassuringly. "Or we better."

"I'll always be fine with you, Dani," Puffball told her.

"We've got to keep quiet," Perdita whispered gently.

"But what if we're caught?" Lady asked.

"Shh…" Pongo whispered.

"Come on Pidge, it'll be fine," Tramp consoled her.

"Wrong again, Tramp," came a cruel, vicious growl.

The dogs turned and gasped. Buster was standing there, leering at them menacingly. He was soaking wet, and seething with rage.

"You… nasty pests! You humiliated me…you tricked me! And you're all kibble!" Buster raged.

The parents once again growled at Buster, and this time the puppies joined in.

"Give me the children," Buster growled to the parents. "Or else I'll bark."

"Never, Buster," Tramp told him.

"We're not scared of you, Buster," Angel growled.

"That's right," Scamp shouted. "We all know you're just a jealous backstabber!"

Buster smiled menacingly and barked loudly. "You made your choice."

Cruella heard the barks. "Aha! There are the little mongrels!" Cruella shrieked. She, Horace, and Jasper began to run up the hill, heading right to where the puppies were.

"Beautyful," Buster smirked.

But then, Tramp yelled, "Follow me!" The dogs ran through the woods for a little bit, and they were standing at the edge of the hill.

"It's an escape route!" Patch announced excitedly.

The group hurried down the hill, Tramp grabbed Danielle and Lucky by their necks. They all reached the side of the hill and escaped the forest. Buster tried to follow them, but his broken leg slowed him down and he couldn't keep up.

"You guys thought you beat me because you broke my leg!" Buster snarled. "I can win without it though," Buster declared. He barked again.

"Oh, get there, you old hag!" Buster snarled. "Take care of them."

Cruella quickly noticed the dogs running down the path. "Aha! You're mine!" she declared.

She then drew a bow and arrow out of her fur coat. "My special puppy-target arrows! It's a good thing I practiced my darts. You puppies may have missed my poisoned food, and my electric fence, and my orbs, but you can't miss these! I practiced for this moment!"

And then, Cruella quickly placed some arrows in the bow, and focused in on the dalmatian puppies.

"Ha ha ha!" Cruella shouted as she lobbed an arrow right toward Penny. Penny gasped, but she jumped out of the way just enough to avoid the arrow.

"Aw, it's not that easy, just you wait!" Cruella shouted. She got into her car, and followed the dogs as they ran down the street. Just as they were about to turn though, Cruella's car blocked them and to their horror, they realized were trapped by a steep cliff.

On the other side of the car, they could now make out four all too familiar brown paws. "There you are!" Buster announced. "Now, it's time for the end. She weakened you… but now, you're my kibbles!"

Buster tried leaping onto the car, but it was difficult with his broken leg. He snarled as he tried to jump, but he failed again at his attempt. He then contented himself to lying down and watching Cruella with amusement. Then Angel noticed that Cruella was preparing another bow and arrow. She was aiming straight towards Lucky.

"Lucky, hide!" Angel gasped worriedly. Lucky did not notice Cruella yet and he was walking close to the car. But then...

"Lucky!" Perdita gasped. She guarded Lucky carefully, who didn't move. She stood over him, trying to protect him from further harm.

"Lucky," Pongo growled. Then, he turned toward Cruella.

"That does it," he told Cruella, and then, Pongo jumped onto the car roof, causing it to crash. He then fell onto Cruella's lap and began pulling on her fur coat in an effort to further distract her. "I'm not going to let you attack any more of our puppies!"

"You spotted mongrel!" Cruella shouted aggressively to Pongo as Pongo pulled her furry cap off. Luckily, Pongo's attack distracted Cruella from her weapons, and she dropped her bow and arrows. Perdita joined in on the attack, jumping onto the other front seat. She began to pull on Cruella's gloved hands, all the while still holding on to Lucky. Cruella shrieked as Pongo and Perdita continued to bite her hard and destroy her fur coat.

"Penny," Patch whispered. "Now's our chance to get rid of her weapons!"

"Right," Penny whispered, and the two of them jumped in through the back seat window of the car, which had another open window.

They quickly searched the floor. "I found them," Penny told Patch. "They're by Cruella's feet."

Penny then crawled underneath Cruella's seat, grabbed the bow and gave it to Patch, who then snapped in half. Penny then grabbed the arrows, breaking them in half, and Patch threw them out the window.

Cruella managed to take a glance into the back seat and saw Patch throw the last arrow out the window. She gasped, "You nasty beasts! You took all of my weapons!" With her free hand Cruella pounded the seat where they were sitting on, but Patch grabbed Penny by the collar and together they jumped into the trunk. Cruella moved toward the back seat, which was difficult because Pongo and Perdita were still biting her and limiting her movement. She tried to grab onto Patch and Penny, but they dodged Cruella's grasping.

But then, Cruella grabbed Penny. Hurriedly, Patch jumped onto Cruella's shoulder and bit her hair.

"You little beast! How dare you bite my hair!" Cruella shrieked as Pongo and Perdita began to bite her arms.

Meanwhile, Scamp and Angel were developing an idea. "Hey," Scamp whispered. "Look down there! Don't cars work with those wheel things?"

"They do," Angel smirked. "Let's puncture them. Then she can't go anywhere."

Cruella wasn't paying attention to Scamp and Angel plotting. She yelled, "Jasper! Horace!"

"Yes ma'am," Horace answered. Their truck was rolling toward Cruella's. Scamp and Angel meanwhile, walked on the side of the car, and began to puncture the tires.

"Finish the job! I want those wicked beasts to be done with now!" she exclaimed.

"Aye aye, ma'am," Jasper answered. Their truck began to roll toward Cruella's car. Jasper brought out a club. "This will make the madame happy," he began to say, But then…

"Jasper!" Horace exclaimed, the truck continued to roll.

"Oh, what now?" Jasper responded impatiently.

"Well, I can't stop the truck!" Horace muttered embarrassedly

Scamp and Angel just finished puncturing the final wheel of Cruella's car, and the car sunk a few inches. Cruella look down and cried, "You little beasts! How dare you stop my car!" She broke free of Pongo and Perdita's grasp and grabbed Scamp and Angel, but they bit her on both hands. Cruella shrieked with fury as Scamp and Angel escaped. Behind them, the truck continued to roll on and on. Only Danielle and Puffball however, heard what Horace had said.

"Everyone, get out! The truck's coming!" Puffball yelled.

"They don't know how to stop it!" Danielle gasped. "Get out now!"

The dalmatians looked behind them, and just in time, Pongo, Perdita, Patch and Penny jumped out of Cruella's car.

"Come back here..." Cruella began to say, but she then turned to find Horace and Jasper's truck right behind her car.

"You fools!" Cruella shouted. "Stop driving that truck and get me new wheels!" But it was too late. With a bang, Cruella's car was pushed off the cliff by Horace and Jasper's truck, and it tumbled and banged down the hill.

"Aak! You idiots!" Cruella shrieked. Then, her car took a big fall and crashed onto the beach far below, and nothing remained but a pile of broken automobile parts.

"Hey Horace," Jasper exclaimed, getting out of their truck.

"Blimey, would you look at that?" Horace gasped.

"Jasper," Horace told him. "But… the puppies..."

"Oh Horace, we don't need to do that," Jasper told him. "We won't make much boodle now without the mistress. But… think of that boodle we can make from her booty. We can sell it all..."

"And then we'll really be rich!" Horace smiled.

"Come on Horace, let's rob her house before the cops get there," Jasper told him. Horace nodded, and they got into their truck, which then went bumbling back up the road.

"So," Buster drawled. "It's just me now. No matter. I see she did the job for one of them," Buster laughed, still continuing to drip a little bit. Perdita walked up to a grassy patch, desperately trying to revive Lucky. Lucky did not move, even though she persistently pawed at him to wake him up. He looked as though he was sleeping.

"You're going to pay for this," Pongo told Buster, and he went up to join Perdita in trying to revive Lucky. Patch and Penny followed and also joined in to attempt to wake Lucky up.

"So," Buster cockily told Tramp. "Here's where the famous Tramp's story will end. I don't need bows and arrows to finish you off," Buster told Tramp. "I've been longing for this fight for a long time. You're done for!"

And then Buster took a great leap and lunged at Tramp. The two of them tussled with each other at the edge of the cliff. The other dogs gasped. "Stay back!" Tramp announced. "Don't worry. I'll take care of him!"

"Aww, Tramp trying to play the hero again," Buster laughed. He then managed to knock Tramp to the ground. Having a limp, Tramp struggled to stand up. "Well, this is where you'll say goodbye," Buster declared, lifting up a paw and preparing to strike.

"No!" Lady exclaimed. She rushed at Buster with all her determination, and she knocked him away. Tramp managed to stand back up. He tottered slightly at the edge of the cliff.

"You're a bunch of fools, all of you!" Buster shouted. "I guess I'll change my plan. First I'll take care of that other job I already started," Buster leered.

"Other job? I'm afraid I don't understand," Lady told Buster.

"Well, that silly Spunky didn't die in a silly car accident. He didn't get run over by a car. It was I who did that work. He just wasn't dog enough to join my gang. I offered a spot for him after your limping friend refused," Buster spat. "He wasn't quite the Tramp, but I thought he'd be a prime junkyard dog."

Peg's eyes widened. "But didn't you just say he wasn't good enough…" she began.

"He wasn't good enough because he didn't join my gang! He could've been if he joined. But… how dare he refuse me! So that was that. I was already betrayed by that Tramp. And I had no mercy for other traitors. So I took care of him in that haunted junkyard by pushing a car onto him, and then I put out a story to make it seem like an accident. The junkyard dogs loved the gossip, and they spread the story all over the place about him being run over in a car accident. Little did anyone know the truth that it was really I who brought an end to him."

There was silence, before Peg growled, "How dare you! You killed him, my true lover," Peg slowly advanced toward Buster and eyed him with disgust. "You'll be sorry, Buster!"

"Yeah!" Angel told Buster furiously, also advancing toward him. "I don't know why I lived with you for all those months! You're gonna pay!"

Buster prepared to attack them, but he was caught off guard as Peg and Angel charged up to him, and the two of them were quickly joined by Scamp.

"Beauty-ful," Buster smirked. "How easy this is to finish the job! You're all coming to me, and you'll all be with silly Spunky before long. I'll take care of you all, one by one!"

He batted each of Peg, Angel, and Scamp away, but they got up and continued to move in toward him. Puffball and Danielle soon joined in, and they began growling at Buster. Buster now had no space in which to launch an attack, as he was trapped by the cliff, and he felt intimidated as he was surrounded by five leering dogs.

"You're not just a bully but a murderer, you evil thug!" Puffball shouted.

"Yeah, and you're disgusting!" Danielle told him.

"You ruined my life!" Peg shouted to Buster. "You took my only lover away from me! How could you be so heartless?"

"I never saw my daddy thanks to you!" Angel spat at Buster bitterly.

"I can't stand you!" Scamp shouted to Buster as he growled. "You lied to me, and tricked me… and you ruined the life of everyone I love!"

Buster looked behind him and gasped. Behind him, there was not much room to stand. But he smiled.

"You're cornered, Buster," Peg growled to him.

"You don't scare me," Buster told them, though his voice trembled. He took a glance and smiled. Tramp was trying to walk over to Lady, but he was teetering at the edge of the cliff.

"So," Angel told Buster. "You better apologize for what you did."

"Or else," Scamp told him.

"Now's your chance to start over," Lady told him from a distance.

Buster smirked. "I don't think I'll need to do that."

Then, abruptly, Buster leaped over the dogs surrounding him and lunged at Tramp. Tramp gasped, and he lost his balance. He nearly fell off the cliff, only tenuously gripping it with his front paws while the rest of him dangled below.

"Haha, beauty-ful," Buster declared. Buster stood on top of the cliff, watching Tramp desperately try to pull himself up. He walked right to Tramp, leering at him from above.

"You're doomed, Tramp," Buster told him. "The queen of the kennel club set can't help you when you're in this much of a mess. None of those meek little house dogs can. It's time for me to finish you off!"

"Tramp," Lady cried, running over to him. She bit onto Tramp's paw and with all her effort she began to pull on Tramp to try to help him up.

"Aww, what does Miss Housedoggy want?" Buster told Lady mockingly, swatting her away. "Gonna say goodbye to your lying sweetheart?"

"He may have not told me everything once," Lady explained, breathing heavily and getting back up again. "But he has told me everything now and has promised never to flirt with any other girls again. I forgave him. And he has not broken that promise."

"No matter, you two are kibble anyway!" Buster shouted. But as he prepared to take a swipe at Lady, who gasped in fright, he was pushed out of the way.

Scamp, Angel, Peg, Danielle, and Puffball stood in front of Buster, blocking him from harming Lady, who was still trying to rescue Tramp.

"So," Angel told him. "Apologize to us right now!"

"We mean it," Scamp exclaimed.

"Ha ha," Buster snarled. "I won't apologize. I'm proud of it."

They leered at Buster, who asked, "Why are you defending those low-lives, anyway?"

"Because we love them," Scamp told Buster.

"Don't you understand what love feels like?" Angel asked.

"No," Buster smirked. "And I don't need to. Love is something only those who aren't cut out to live on the streets feel."

Buster was trying to think how to get past Lady and Tramp's defenders, who kept him trapped. But then suddenly, his eyes fixated towards a point in the woods. Something was there that just couldn't be!

"What the? No! How…" Buster began. His eyes turned unfocused, and livid with rage. But as he took a step backward and a bit to the left to lunge at that point, he lost his balance. He fell flat onto the edge of the cliff, which crumbled with his weight. "No!" Buster screamed as he fell. The drop was very large, much larger than the drop at the railroad and Buster sank into the water with a big splash.

Tramp was still dangling dangerously below thanks to Buster's attempts.

"Tramp," Lady cried, continuing to bite onto his front paw. "I'll save you…"

Lady pulled and pulled, with Tramp gasping nervously.

"Hey, I'm not used to being saved," Tramp smiled at Lady.

"I'll do anything for you," Lady told Tramp. "But… oh no!"

Lady began to slip slightly herself. She gasped as she noticed this, but Scamp and Angel then rushed over and began to pull Lady up.

"Mom," Scamp told her. "Don't fall over."

"Yeah," Angel told her. "We'll pull you up."

And with a great heave Scamp and Angel pulled Lady safely back onto land.

"Thank you for saving me," Lady told Scamp and Angel. They nodded and they joined Peg, Danielle, and Puffball in closely watching Lady rescue Tramp.

Now firmly onto land, Lady pulled hard on Tramp's front paws, biting onto one of them and holding down his other her paw with hers to keep him steady. Tramp meanwhile, was still struggling to lift the rest of him onto land. Lady tugged at him as hard as she could. "Only a little bit further, Tramp," Lady told him encouragingly as she took another step backward, lifting Tramp up a little more. Then as Lady pulled, Scamp, Angel, Danielle, Peg, and Puffball walked over to the edge of the cliff and smiled at Tramp.

_"_Pop, I love you so much!" Scamp told Tramp. "You're a great dad!"

"Come on Tramp, pull yourself up," Peg told him. "I know you can do it!"

"You're the best adoptive dad in the world!" Angel told him.

"Dad, you're almost there!" Danielle told him.

"Think of all the love you have in your life!" Puffball told him happily.

Tramp smiled with the words of encouragement and felt a lot better. Lady meanwhile, was breathing heavily with the exhaustion of pulling him, but at last she managed to get Tramp half pulled over. He put a back foot onto the cliff, and told Lady, "Pidge, I can finish." Lady, remembering how Tramp would never lie to her anymore, let him go. Tramp finished pulling himself up, and he stood back on the ground.

"Thanks a million, Pidge," Tramp told her.

Lady smiled. "Anytime… I'm glad you're all right."

Then, they turned to face Pongo, Perdita, Patch and Penny. They were mourning over Lucky.

"Bless him," Perdita told Pongo sadly, as they lay next to Lucky's limp body.

"I… can't stand it," Patch sighed sadly.

"Well Perdy," Pongo told her sadly. "We did our best."

"Huh?" came a voice next to them. "Did our best?"

The dalmatians gasped and looked at the ground as Lucky opened his eyes. Pongo smiled, "Lucky! Is that really you?"

"Yeah!" Lucky declared. "She only got me a little bit."

"Thank goodness," Perdita smiled. "I thought... you might have been a ghost."

"Wow, great to see you Lucky!" Penny exclaimed happily.

"Yeah! You're back! I love you Lucky!" Patch told him, and the two of them giggled. Pongo and Perdita looked at each other happily, and they knew then that Patch's and Lucky's sibling rivalry had finally ended.

Then the dalmatians rejoined the group. They all smiled at each other for a bit, before Scamp excitedly declared, "Let's go home!"


	32. An Angel in Paradise

DISCLAIMER: Lady and the Tramp, 101 Dalmatians and their worlds belong to Disney.

Chapter 32- An Angel in Paradise

The group looked down from the cliff. They could still see the ripples of water where Buster fell. Nearby, Cruella's car lay in shambles.

"Well," Lady whispered, sighing, "We're safe."

"You're right," Perdita smiled. "I can't believe it! We're finally going home!"

"Hey, you guys, come with us," Danielle shouted to the dalmatians. "Robert and Anita are at my home…"

"Roger, dear," Perdita corrected her gently.

"Roger then," Danielle continued. "Or at least Rolly is, with Cadpig and my sisters and Jock and Trusty…and with Aunt Sarah and those kitty cats..." Danielle made a face of disgust.

"If they bother you again, I'll chase those cats," Scamp volunteered to Danielle and Lady, who both happily laughed as they passed a set of railroad tracks.

"Why are Roger and Anita at your home?" Pongo asked.

"To look for everyone," Danielle explained. "They've met up with Jim Dear and Darling to look for us."

"Come on, let's not keep them waiting anymore! Let's go home!" Tramp suggested. As the group hurried down the path, Peg abruptly stopped, then turned.

"What's wrong?" Angel asked Peg.

"I just saw somethin'," Peg explained. Her voice turned unsure, and a bit higher than usual. "Sweetie… I…I have to go."

And then, Peg tore off back toward the railroad tracks. She could make out a silhouette slowly moving to them in the distance. "Where are you going?" Lady asked.

But Peg didn't answer. She kept on running until she arrived at the railroad tracks. And there she saw a black dog with a severe limp. He was short-haired, had two tall pointy ears, scruffy cheeks, a reddish nose, and a short-haired tail. He tried walking toward Peg himself, stumbled, but quickly stood back up again.

Peg and the black dog stopped. They stared at each other for a few moments. Then, she approached him apprehensively, taking a step forward.

"Could you be..." Peg muttered softly.

"You can't be…" the black dog asked Peg. "Can you?"

Upon hearing his voice, Peg gasped. She then walked up to him, stared into his eyes, and asked, "Spunky? You… you're alive?"

"Yeah," Spunky told Peg, smiling at her proudly, and then scratching himself, he revealed a little bit of orange fur under the black. "I can't believe it… you survived the pound?"

"Sure did," Peg answered, and then she fluffed the hair out of her eyes. "I escaped myself. I don't understand though… how? Buster said he killed you."

"It's a long story," Spunky told Peg.

"I thought I saw you a few times," Peg told Spunky breathlessly, "I went out to look for you when I first thought I saw you… I thought I was just imagining things. But…I wasn't…"

"I was following you guys," Spunky answered. "Or trying to, it's hard to keep up with that limp. Buster was nearly right. He did severely wound me."

"But to think… that you're actually still alive! I… I… can't believe it! Our Angel is going to be…" Peg excitedly began, but then she paused.

They were interrupted as Angel came running over toward them. She then slowed as she arrived. Staring at Spunky, then Peg , she asked, "Mama… who's he?"

Peg smiled. "Your father isn't dead after all," she told Angel gently.

And then Peg told Spunky, "And this is our little Angel."

Spunky looked even more delighted. "Hey sweetheart," Spunky told Angel, caressing her gently.

Angel felt stunned. "Daddy… you… you're alive!" Angel gasped in delight. "But… Buster said he killed you!" Angel exclaimed. "And..."

"Spunky! You're… you're here!" Tramp exclaimed, joining them.

Spunky gasped. "Hey Tramp," he greeted him. "Long time, no see! But why are you here?"

"I'm Angel's adoptive dad, and her future father-in-law," he explained.

Spunky smiled. "And I'm sure you've taken great care of her."

"I'm just so happy that you're alive!" Angel exclaimed cheerfully, chasing her tail and biting it in celebration.

"Who's alive?" Patch asked curiously. The rest of the group approached.

Angel smiled broadly. "My dad!" she exclaimed excitedly.

Lady, Pongo, and Perdita gasped.

"You mean…he's your real dad?" Scamp asked.

Angel smiled brightly and nodded. Then she told Spunky, "He's my boyfriend, Scamp."

Spunky smiled and told Scamp, "You look just like your father," and Scamp smiled.

"So how did you escape Buster?"Angel asked excitedly.

"Yeah, tell us!" Patch asked eagerly.

"Well, I fooled him!" Spunky explained as the group began to walk home. "It all took place in that haunted junkyard. I was ambling there aimlessly, preoccupied with losing Peg. Buster caught me off guard there, and he almost got me. He pushed a wobbly car off a pile of junk and it fell onto my back. It really hurt! I felt many of my bones break, and I knew I had no chance to fight him off. So I pretended to be dead after Buster made his attack. I was hurting everywhere, but I played cool and didn't move. My act worked, Buster thought I was dead. I heard him laugh in triumph. He left me to rot in that haunted junkyard place. But he failed! Then I lost consciousness. When I woke up, I felt pain all over. I struggled to move. But I managed to crawl to a barrel of soot, which I covered myself up in for a disguise."

"So you were the one in that soot!" Patch exclaimed. "We saw some furs in there."

"Yeah, that was me," Spunky told him. "Anyway, I had to leave that junkyard in case Buster went there again. I couldn't fight him thanks to my injuries. After all I could barely stand up. So I went into hiding in the nearby forest. That's where I've lived ever since. I only left there to go back in that junkyard to cover myself in soot again… that was, until you came along. I thought I saw Peg. But I couldn't be sure. I was sure she was dead. When we escaped, the dogcatchers got her. I heard a clanging sound when I realized she was gone. I thought they…they…"

Peg smiled, "Oh! It was only the new dogcatcher crashing his wagon. He made a stir that day," she told him. "But you're right… it did sound like…you know."

Spunky continued, "So I thought she was dead all this time. I resigned myself to it. But the chance of seeing her again gave me the strength to follow you guys. It was the first time I went far away from that forest since Buster's attack. And then, during that fight with Buster on the cliff, I saw her up close. I walked out to get closer. Buster saw me though on that cliff. He was furious! That's why he fell over, see? He was so shocked that he failed that he actually lost his balance."

"Wow," Angel told him, amazed.

"And I thought I saw him quite a few times," Peg told them. "That's why I ran off from you guys, and why I seemed out of it sometimes, you know? I thought I was seeing him. And I was… I just… had to be sure."

Angel smiled, feeling more elated than ever before. "And to think… I didn't realize you two were alive!" she exclaimed cheerily.

The dogs then stopped at the junkyard. "We need to get our collars back," Scamp told everyone else, and Angel nodded. They walked through the barrel, and found their collars waiting for them on its side. Scamp and Angel smiled at each other, nodded, and put their collars back on their necks.

And then, after crossing a few more streets, they found Park Avenue.

"This is where you live?" Spunky asked Angel.

"Yeah," Angel answered.

"It sure is a rich home," Spunky told them.

"Oh…I can't believe this," Lady exclaimed. "We're home at last!"

They arrived home just when the moon began to shine. Out on the porch steps were Jim Dear and Darling, along with Roger and Anita. They were accompanied by Aunt Sarah, rocking on the rocking chair and looking far more relaxed than anyone else, as well as Rolly, continuing to eat, Cadpig who was talking to Rolly nervously, and a sobbing Annette and Collette. Jock and Trusty were standing with them too, trying to reassure Annette and Collette.

"We've been so mean…" Annette told Collette.

"I miss them!" Collette added. "Mom and Dad, and Danielle… I even miss Scamp and Angel!"

"Hey," Trusty exclaimed. "I think I smell something…"

"Ack, you smell nothing!" Jock exclaimed.

"Hi sisters," Scamp yelled cheerfully from down the road. "We're back!"

Annette and Collette gasped and looked at each other. "Yay!" Annette squealed.

Then all of a sudden, Anita exclaimed, "Roger, what on Earth?"

Roger looked up. And then, he grinned. "Hey, it looks like…"

"They're all here!" Jim Dear declared.

The families reunited at the front path of Lady's house. "Oh, how nice to see you all again," Darling told them, petting Lady and Tramp on the head. "We have been so lucky."

"I can't believe this…they're really here!" Roger announced, petting Pongo.

"Yay!" Cadpig cheered, and she rushed over to Patch, Lucky, and Penny with Rolly following her. "You're back!" Cadpig squealed, and she affectionately rubbed against her runaway siblings. "Let's all have a big puppy party!"

And the Dalmatian puppies happily smiled at each other as Cadpig began to brainstorm ideas for a party.

Lady happily bustled to Jock and Trusty, who looked just as delighted to see her as she them. "Ah, Lassie! Good to see that you're back!" Jock exclaimed.

"I see that you found your little ones just fine," Trusty told her.

"Yes," Lady happily replied. "They helped me find out how to be a better mother… and I also found out that I had the best husband that I could possibly find."

"Oh, that's very sweet, Miss Lady," Trusty told her.

Then Annette and Collette walked up to Danielle. "Sorry for what we said before," Annette sighed. "We were just nervous and sad about Mom and Dad and Scamp and Angel."

"Yeah, you're still one of us," Collette told Danielle. "And we're so happy you're back!"

Danielle smiled, "Aw that's all right. And thanks!"

Standing slightly isolated from everyone else, Scamp, Angel, and Patch were standing alone, looking at each other.

"We're going to miss you," Scamp told Patch.

"I know," Patch sighed. "It's really been fun to meet you…there's no one like you at home."

But then, Danielle bounded up to them and asked, "Why are you three not partying?"

Scamp, Angel, and Patch looked at Danielle incredulously. "Well… we're never going to see him again," Scamp told Danielle.

"Why not?" Danielle asked.

"Because they live in London," Angel explained. "That's across the sea."

"But don't you know about Darling and Anita?" Danielle asked in surprise.

"What about them?" Patch asked.

"Anita's Darling's long-lost little sister," Danielle told Patch. "They found out after looking for all of you together. I overheard them," Danielle explained.

"What?" Scamp asked, shocked.

"And you didn't tell us?" Angel asked.

"Oh, yeah. I forgot," Danielle smiled guiltily. "And they bought the house."

"House?" Lady asked, who also joined in.

"That house across the street for sale," Danielle explained. "Robert and Anita bought it for a home."

"Really?" Patch asked. Then, he bounded up to Rolly and Cadpig. "Did Roger buy that house?"

"He sure did!" Cadpig exclaimed.

"Yeah," Rolly yawned, eating another biscuit.

"And he also bought a big place in the country here for all of our brothers and sisters to harmonize with nature," Cadpig sighed dreamily.

Scamp, Angel, and Patch smiled at each other. "Wahoo!" Scamp cheered. The three puppies were delighted not to be separated.

"We'll see you soon," Roger told Jim Dear, and he, Anita, and the dalmatians walked across the street to their house. Lady and Tramp's family said their goodbyes to the dalmatians before turning back and facing Jim Dear and Darling.

"All right everyone, let's go in," Jim Dear announced.

But none of the dogs walked inside. Instead, they stared at the steps. Puffball was still standing there, sadly looking at their home. He looked like he was waiting to talk to Danielle.

"Mom, do you still say…" Danielle asked Lady, and she smiled and nodded. Then the two of them smiled at Puffball.

"Come on in, Puffball!" Danielle told him. "You're my boyfriend."

"But… no family would ever take me in," Puffball told Danielle sadly. "I'm a reject…"

"Don't worry. You're my boyfriend. You're the family," she explained.

"Well, I would love a family!" Puffball gasped. "But… do you think…"

"Of course they will!" Danielle shouted cheerily. "That's why I agreed to come home, because Mom told me that you could live here with us!"

"But what about your pets?" Puffball asked.

"Aww, don't worry about them! They took her in… why not you?" Danielle told Puffball.

And this gave Angel a sudden idea. She hurried over to Puffball, and gasped, "Where are my Mom and Dad?"

"They went down the street to the left," Puffball answered.

Angel didn't wait for a reply. She rushed down the street to the left, passing houses and sidewalks, until at last, she noticed Peg and Spunky walking away.

"I'm glad we helped her out, aren't you?" Peg told Spunky.

"Yeah," Spunky agreed. "Now let's go find somewhere to live together."

"Hi Mom, Dad," Angel walked up to them.

Peg turned. "Hiya sweetie… I love seeing you. But… please, go back to your home where you belong."

"Look," Angel told Peg. "You two are my parents. I haven't seen you all my life. Why don't you come home with me?" she asked.

Peg and Spunky gasped with the prospect and stared at each other in astonishment. "I don't know… we've never thought about living in this kind of place," Spunky told Angel apprehensively, looking at the houses on either side of him.

"Yeah," Peg whispered. "We were going to go off and live… somewhere. We didn't expect… and Lady and Tramp are already living there… we'd only disturb them. And sweetie, this is your house, not mine," Peg told Angel.

"You're my parents," Angel told them firmly. "If it's my house, it's your house too."

"We'll do fine," Spunky told Angel. "Don't worry about us."

"I know how you two feel," Angel explained wisely. "I was in your place not that far back. I thought no one would ever take me. But they took me in. And it's not that bad there. Just think who I have as an adoptive dad!"

"Peg? Spunky?", came a voice behind them. There, rushing up to them, were Lady and Tramp.

"You two should come and live with us," Lady told them gently. "You're Angel's true parents, and you should be with your daughter. We wouldn't be a complete family without you."

"Home's not as bad as what you think," Tramp told them. "Sure, you don't get quite as much fun and freedom, but you get to be with Angel here and you can join our family. Danielle's boyfriend Puffball wants to live with us, so we invite you to come home with us too. And it's not bad at home at all, you'll adapt just fine."

Peg gasped, saying, "Tramp, you know… this is all Spunky and I have ever dreamt of… but…I don't want to be a living reminder of your past."

"Don't worry about that," Lady told her. "We see you now as a loyal and loving part of our family. And wasn't this your dream to find a loving home for your family to be together in?"

"And our dream that you always told me to hope for?" Angel added.

Angel's parents looked at each other before Spunky sighed, "Well…maybe we should."

"You mean… you're coming!" Angel gasped happily, her tail wagging and her eyes brightly lit with excitement.

Peg and Spunky stared at each other for a moment, then they nodded and smiled at Angel. "We sure are sweetheart," Peg told her.

Angel then excitedly rushed back to her house, Lady, Tramp, Peg and Spunky struggled to keep up. Danielle was showing Puffball up the steps.

"Maybe they will take me!" Puffball exclaimed as he and Danielle walked up the steps, being accompanied by Annette and Colette, who seemed to take a quick liking to Puffball.

Then, all the dogs began to bark loudly.

"What's this?" Jim Dear asked as he returned with Darling carrying Junior.

"Oh, they're so sweet," Darling sighed, looking at Angel as she stood affectionately by her parents. "They must be family."

"Maybe we should let Angel go," Jim Dear suggested. He was greeted with disappointment as every dog sadly stared at him. Angel then ran up the steps, spun her collar, and then ran back to her parents and rubbed against them.

"Jim Dear… I think Angel's telling us she wants her parents to live with us," Darling explained.

"Oh no Darling," Jim Dear told her firmly.

Then, Danielle barked loudly.

"Oh, look, Danielle found herself a new friend," Darling told Jim Dear happily. Puffball walked up to them, bustling cheerfully and giving puppy eyes to Jim Dear and Darling, as Danielle panted excitedly. "He's such a sweet little puppy."

Darling then put Junior down. Peg, Spunky, and Puffball walked up to Junior and he happily petted all of them, and they smiled affectionately at Junior and rubbed against him.

"And they get along with Junior so well," Darling told Jim Dear. "Jim Dear... maybe we should..."

"No, no Darling. First we had Lady. Then we got Tramp. Then we got four puppies… then five. Now we'd have, what, ten dogs? We can't! We'll have the most dogs of anyone in…"

"Not anymore," Darling smiled. "My sister has ten times that number, remember?"

"But…" Jim Dear protested, but he shook his head in resignation as every dog gave him puppy eyes. "Oh well. Welcome to the family!" he announced.

Jim Dear held the door open, and everyone walked into the kitchen. He then gave Peg, Spunky, and Puffball collars.

"These'll have to do until we get personalized collars," Jim Dear told Darling. "Any ideas for names? I don't have a clue."

"Well, let's see…" Darling told Jim Dear. "How about Puffball for Danielle's friend, and Peg and Spunky for Angel's parents?" she asked.

Jim Dear looked at her. "Sure, those are nice names!"

Peg and Spunky looked incredulously at each other. "How did she know?" Peg asked, stunned that Jim Dear and Darling figured out their names. Angel just smiled.

Puffball, meanwhile sighed, saying, "I guess I'll never lose that name now," but now he smiled when saying that. Jim Dear then set up some bathwater.

Puffball enthusiastically gasped, "I can't believe it! Bath time! Wahoo!" Scamp begrudgingly smiled, looking bemusedly at his adopted housemate as Puffball happily jumped into the bucket before it was even half filled.

"You're with us now!" Angel told Peg happily.

"I… you were right, Angel," Peg told her, smiling. "It's wonderful here! It's great to be with you and your daddy, and the rest of your loving family!"

"Come on you two," Jim Dear told Peg and Spunky. "What's this?" Jim Dear told Spunky. "You're covered with soot! You should have a bath… you're black as dirt."

Then, when Puffball finished his bath, shaking himself off in delight and bounding back toward Danielle, Jim Dear placed Spunky into the tub. "What's this for?" Spunky asked confusedly as he got soaped down.

"I wonder myself," Scamp told him, smiling.

"Oh well," Spunky smiled, getting out of the tub and shaking himself off, fully revealing his orange and white fur. Looking at his clean coat, he smiled. "I guess I needed that."

"And you should have a haircut," Darling told Peg as she got out her scissors. "You can't see like this."

"This is going to take some adjusting to," Peg smiled as her long bangs fell onto the counter top, and everyone laughed while Darling was washing Peg's face. Lady smiled as she thought about her happy family surrounding her. At last her family was at peace with itself, and Lady smiled with that thought, feeling relieved that her family was finally together again after a long runaway adventure.


	33. Epilogue

DISCLAIMER: Lady and the Tramp, 101 Dalmatians, and their worlds belong to Disney.

Epilogue

The grandfather clock rang eleven times. The kitchen was mostly dark, except for a little bit of moonlight trickling into the house from its window. Annette and Collette were sleeping together by the counter. Danielle slept near them, with Puffball, now wearing a personalized, gleaming gold collar, at her side. Also sleeping were Peg and Spunky, who were in a soft bed in the corner by the door. Like Puffball, they now had new, personalized collars, Peg's was blue and Spunky's was red. In the center of the room were Lady and Tramp, who were fast asleep in one cushy, large, round bed. Upstairs, Jim Dear, Darling, and Junior were sleeping. Everyone was sleeping… except for Scamp! He was standing up in his bed, staring out the window with Angel sleeping by his side. He stared out at the bright moon above. Far away, a train horn blared. Scamp smiled. The noise made him excited. He wasn't ready to go to bed yet. Scamp sat down and looked at Angel, happily sleeping. He began to think of exciting adventures they'd have in the morning…

Then, Scamp heard a small tapping on wood. Scamp jolted up. He looked through the room excitedly, but saw that everyone was sleeping. He sighed, "Rats…"

But then, Scamp looked out the window. Patch was standing on the window ledge. Scamp sat straight up again, panted excitedly and wagged his tail, and hurried to the window. He jumped on the stool by the window ledge, which he placed his front paws on. The window was cracked open. He smiled at Patch.

"Hi Scamp," Patch told him.

"Hey Patch!" Scamp smiled. "Slick move to get up there," Scamp pointed to the ledge.

"Thanks," Patch smiled. "It looks like your family's asleep," Patch smiled.

"Yeah," Scamp told him, smiling back.

"So's mine," Patch told Scamp. "Want to come over?" he asked. "We can have some fun together!"

"Sure!" Scamp answered at once, his eyes lighting up with excitement. "Just let me wake Angel up!"

Scamp bounded off the window ledge, and ran to Angel, nudging her awake. Angel blinked, "Scamp, I was dreaming…" she whispered happily. But then her eyes fell on Patch, who was still sitting on the window ledge. Her eyes lit up too.

She and Scamp then shared the stool to the window ledge. "We'll be there in a bit," Angel told Patch.

"See you then!" Scamp smiled at Patch.

Patch smiled, and jumped off the window ledge. Scamp and Angel were about to jump down, then Scamp whispered, "Shh… we might want to keep quiet. It's past curfew time," Scamp smirked. "Bedtime at ten o'clock, remember?"

"Oh yeah, I forgot," Angel smiled. "We could get into trouble," she whispered, and they giggled to each other. Angel then found a patch sitting on the nearby table. She told Scamp seriously, "Scamp, they'd be concerned if we disappeared without letting them know where we're going."

"You're right," Scamp told Angel.

"Let's put this here so everyone knows where we're going and that we're safe," Angel smiled, placing the patch in their bed.

The two of them began to walk out, but then, they heard a bit of movement. Looking behind them, they noticed Lady standing up and yawning. She blinked, and then she saw Scamp and Angel out of bed. They smiled guiltily.

"Hmm… oh dear… Scamp, Angel? You're still awake?" Lady asked.

The two of them gasped, and looked at each other. "Yeah," Scamp answered simply.

"Why don't you two go back to bed?" Lady gently suggested.

"Hey, I know it's late," Scamp told Lady. "But Angel and I were going to see..." But his voice trailed away as Lady looked at the patch and nodded.

"We know it's past the curfew," Angel told Lady. "But don't worry about us. We were just going to have some fun with him." Angel explained.

"Would you let us go, Mom?" Scamp asked.

Lady paused. She knew though, that her kids just wanted to have some fun with Patch and she could count on them to return home. "Of course you can see him," Lady smiled. "But I trust that you two will be safe and come back home."

"We will," Scamp told Lady, and Angel nodded.

Lady nodded appreciatively to Scamp and Angel, who exchanged looks of delight at each other. With smiles on their faces, Scamp and Angel then walked over to the doorway.

"Scamp, would you just wait a moment?" Angel asked as they arrived at the doorway.

"Okay then," he told Angel. Angel then walked up to her parents, who were still sleeping. She rubbed gently against them, and told them, "Mom… Dad…I'm so happy that you're both here." Then she looked at them gently, whispered, "I love you Daddy… Mama…" and kissed them both. Lady then saw Peg slightly lift her head, smile, and wink at Angel when she wasn't looking.

Scamp and Angel then slipped through the cracked door. The two of them sat on the rug in front of the stairs by the mirror. There was a little bit of light coming through the large, stained glass windows above. Angel and Scamp looked at each other for a few minutes and smiled.

"Scamp," Angel told him. "I want to say that… you're the best boyfriend I could ever have. You've always been there for me no matter what."

"Thanks," Scamp smiled. "I feel the same way," Scamp told her. "I never had anyone besides my parents and sisters before I met you. We've been through so much together."

Angel then whispered to Scamp, "I love you Tenderfoot,"

Blushing slightly, Scamp whispered, "I love you too," and the two of them, bathed in moonlight and shadows, rubbed closely together and kissed in the dim light.

Just when Scamp and Angel left the kitchen, there was another noise. Turning, Lady saw Danielle jump up from out of bed. She ran through the room, tried chasing her tail, but then, she looked up and saw Lady.

"Woah, you're up late, Mom!" Danielle gasped in surprise.

Lady smiled at Danielle. "Yes," she smiled at Danielle. "I guess I'm up too late myself."

"I want to go out," Danielle told Lady excitedly. Puffball was also waking up. "Puffball is gonna take me out for some steak!"

Puffball told Lady, "I know where to go. It's this delicious steak place in town. Dani and I will be back soon," he told Lady.

"Can we go?" Danielle told Lady.

"Yes," Lady whispered. "But wait just a moment." She knew that Scamp and Angel were still in the house, and that it would be best for Danielle and Puffball to wait. The two of them looked confusedly at Lady.

"Why should we wait?" Danielle asked curiously.

"You two will understand soon," Lady told Danielle and Puffball gently. Then, Lady heard the sound of the front dog door click. "You two can leave now," Lady told Danielle and Puffball. The two of them then happily bounded out of the house. Lady prepared to go to sleep again, but then she saw Tramp sit up. He smiled, "Pidge, you're awake!"

Tramp looked and saw the vacant beds. "Where is everyone?" he asked.

"They've gone out," Lady explained simply.

"Okay Pidge," Tramp told her. Then he smiled at Lady. "Hey, since our kids are leaving, why don't we go out ourselves?" Tramp asked.

Lady smiled gently at Tramp. "All right then," she whispered. "If we'll be back by morning," she told Tramp. "Jim Dear and Darling need us and so do our puppies."

"Of course we will Pidge," Tramp smiled.

Meanwhile, Scamp and Angel were crossing the street, where they saw Patch, waiting for them.

"Hi Scamp, Angel," Patch told them. "I'm so happy you came! Did you have to sneak past the parents?"

"Mom woke up," Scamp told Patch. "But she let us come out anyway."

Patch smiled. "I think they're all beginning to understand us," he told Scamp and Angel, who nodded in agreement.

Patch strolled on the tiles of his porch, investigating it. "I like the new house. It's smaller than what we're used to at home, but there's still plenty of stuff to do in it. They already got a TV fixed up."

"We want to see your home," Scamp told Patch excitedly. "Your old one."

"Oh, that one," Patch told Scamp. "It's at a farm."

"Rats," Scamp muttered, crestfallen. "It sounds so boring."

"We can do stuff there though," Patch explained. "There's plenty of things to do beyond the plantation!"

"Look!" Scamp declared excitedly. Green flashes of light circled above them.

"Yay, fireflies!" Angel cheered. "Let's have some fun chasing them..."

"Then we can explore! I have a lot to see in these streets," Patch exclaimed.

"Let's go!" Scamp suggested. Angel and Patch delightedly agreed, and the three of them jumped down the street, chasing fireflies.

"Hey, I got one!" Scamp declared happily, his mouth filled with green light.

Angel and Patch laughed as Scamp spat it out, then the three of them scurried further down the street.

Lady and Tramp were sitting on the front step. They were watching Scamp and Angel talk with Patch for a while on their front step. Lady saw them leave the street. She wasn't worried though, for she knew that they'd know how to be safe and that they'd come back before long.

Just then, the door across the street opened. Pongo and Perdita slipped out of their door and walked onto their front step. They looked happily at Patch with Scamp and Angel, and then crossed the street to join Lady and Tramp.

"I'm so glad," Perdita told Lady. "Patch was so bored before he met your kids."

"It looks like he's really having fun for the first time in his life," Pongo told Tramp happily, watching Patch catch a firefly. "I'm so glad my pets bought a house here."

"This really is a wonderful place to live," Lady told Pongo and Perdita gently.

"You're right, dearie," came a soft voice behind them. "It's the perfect place to raise our little ones."

Lady turned and saw Peg and Spunky join them on the front step.

"They look like real pals," Spunky told the others happily. "They look like they're having so much fun together!"

"Angel must be so happy," Peg told them. "She sure has grown a lot. She's dealt with such a hard life so well. I'm just so proud of her!"

"Patch has grown too," Pongo added. "He's come a long way from watching Thunderbolt on TV. He's done things I never dreamed of!"

"And so has Scamp," Tramp finished. "He's gotten to be even braver and cleverer than I thought!"

Tramp then sniffed the air, and smiled. "Hey! I smell some nice, juicy spaghetti just waiting for us at Tony's! Let's all go there to celebrate your reunion!" Tramp told Peg and Spunky.

"Sure!" Spunky told Tramp brightly. "How about it, Peg?"

"That would be wonderful!" Peg whispered excitedly.

Lady, Perdita, and Pongo also happily nodded. Lady, Perdita, and Peg rubbed affectionately against their husbands and kissed them. Then the three couples happily ran off in the other direction from their kids, anticipating their beautiful bella notte together.

_And they lived happily ever after_

**The End**


End file.
